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The effects of micronutrient additions on soil invertebrate activity and community structure along a successional gradient

Maloney, Caitlin E

Abstract Details

2017, Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, Biological Sciences.
Soil invertebrates play a critical role in the soil food web as some taxa—detritivores— break down dead and decaying material to make it more accessible to the soil microbial community, which in turn leads to further biogeochemical cycling throughout the soil. Micronutrients have been shown to be important drivers of invertebrate activity and community structure in certain environments. In this study we examined how micronutrient additions and forest age affect the soil invertebrate community and their ability to decompose material. Our study was completed using fine and coarse mesh leaf litter bags fertilized with a 1% mixture of calcium, sodium, or zinc in a ~100 year burn chronosequence in a Northern Michigan deciduous hardwood forest. We detected interactive effects between year of burn and micronutrient treatment on macroinvertebrate predator and detritivore abundance. Zinc fertilization appeared to inhibit both detritivore and predator recruitment for forest plots burned in some years but not others. However, this inhibition did not result in changes in decomposition (leaf mass loss). The calcium treatment recruited the most detritivores; however, the calcium treatment had less decomposition than the unfertilized treatment. We suspect that other biotic (e.g., trophic interactions and leaf litter composition) and abiotic factors also affected the activity and abundance of the detritivore communities causing differential results between micronutrient treatment and forest age. Nevertheless, this study demonstrates that certain nutrients can affect soil and leaf litter invertebrate community structure in ways that change the rate of decomposition, and that these impacts vary as forests recover from disturbance.
Shannon Pelini, PhD (Advisor)
Paul Moore, PhD (Committee Member)
Michael Weintraub, PhD (Committee Member)
43 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Maloney, C. E. (2017). The effects of micronutrient additions on soil invertebrate activity and community structure along a successional gradient [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1498074605780196

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Maloney, Caitlin. The effects of micronutrient additions on soil invertebrate activity and community structure along a successional gradient. 2017. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1498074605780196.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Maloney, Caitlin. "The effects of micronutrient additions on soil invertebrate activity and community structure along a successional gradient." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1498074605780196

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)