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Neighborhood scale assessment of soil invertebrates
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Figure 1. Land use map of Cub Hill (created by I. Yesilonis, R. Pouyat and J. Russell-Anelli)
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The Cub Hill site is located 14 km from the center of Baltimore City, MD. The site has several ongoing studies related to the Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) including the first permanent carbon flux tower in an urban/suburban environment. The site was selected because of the juxtaposition of an available tower to forest and residential areas (Figure 1). To the north and west of the tower location is a poplar-oak-hickory stand with a canopy height of 20-26 meters. To the south is a mix of medium density residential areas made up of several subdivisions built in the 1970’s and 80’s. Measurements on the tower include net CO2 exchange, input and partitioning of radiation (net, solar, PAR, IR, and UV), 3-D wind speed and direction, precipitation, relative humidity, and air temperature. Associated with the tower measurements are five below canopy meteorological stations located directly below the tower and at various positions in the urban landscape. At each station both above and below ground meteorological measurements are taken (air temperature, relative humidity, wind direction and speed, soil moisture and temperature).Other projects in the area include soil mapping, stream monitoring and social surveys.
We have conducted soil fauna surveys in 2003 -2004. All but one of earthworm the species are non-native. The forest community biomass is dominated by L. terrestris (28%), with Amynthas becoming very abundant in the summer. Total earthworm abundance differs by land use as well as seasonally. In the forest, earthworms formed distinct patches (Figure 2 and 3). The most striking seasonality was the appearance and disappearance of the invasive Amynthas hilgendorfi at the beginning and end of the growing season, respectively. This species is very abundant in the forest, under thick leaf litter layer, and forms patches of about 20 m in diameter.
Figure 2. The aerial photo of a section at the Cub Hill site, with a superposition of the earthworm sampling points.
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Figure 3. Earthworm density contours in Cub Hill. (Prepared by D. Cilento and E. Ellis, Dept. of Geography, UMBC)
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The other objective of this study is to assess how lawn management affects soil fauna. Twelve lawns were selected and separated into three categories (high, medium and low maintenance) based on the number of fertilizer applications per year. A nearby forest was used as a reference site. A total of 6,524 organisms were collected and identified from soil cores and pit fall traps. Generally, high maintenance lawns had the largest abundance of both springtails (Collembola) and mites (Acari) (Figure 4). However, this effect was season-dependent.
Figure 4. Density of mites (total and oribatids only) in spring 2002. Cryprostigmata are detritivores.
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Collaborators
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Richard Pouyat (USDA Forest Service)
Ian Yesilonis (USDA Forest Service)
John Hom, USDA Forest Service
Peter Groffman (Institute of Ecosystem Studies)
Erle Ellis (UMBC)
Mike McGuire (UMBC-CUERE)
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Students
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Janelle Harris Towson University (BCEB Program)
Jenny Stiltz Towson University (BCEB program)
Kim Townsend (JHU)
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