A Comparison of leaf litter microarthropod abundance and diversity between two upland and cove locations

     We compared the abundance and diversity of leaf litter microarthropods populations between upland and cove environments in two locations: (1) on top and below Buggytop cave in Lost Cove, and (2), on top of a rock at... [ view full abstract ]

     We compared the abundance and diversity of leaf litter microarthropods populations between upland and cove environments in two locations: (1) on top and below Buggytop cave in Lost Cove, and (2), on top of a rock at Greens view, and in Shakerag Hollow. In October, 2016, we collected three leaf litter samples in 0.5 x 0.5 m frames at each location. The samples were placed into Tulgren funnels for 24 hours, after which, we examined the specimens under microscopes to count abundance and classify each organism by order. Overall, Greens View had lower order richness and abundance of microarthropods, compared to Buggytop. Pooling data across the two sites, we found that there were more mites (Acarina Mite) in upland locations, and more Thysanoptera (ANOVA p=0.03589, n=6) in upland leaf litter. Overall, across all sites and location there were more ticks (Acarina Tick), followed by mites (ANOVA p=0.00001, n=12). Our October sample was collected during a drought, and we collected an additional sample in late March to assess how warmer wetter spring weather might affect microarthropod populations in the upland and cove locations.