The soil dwelling microarthropod communities in the New Jersey Pinelands were examined in two field study experiments. The microarthropod community response to low intensity prescribed burns was first examined in two recently burned forests and two unburned forests. The populations of phytophagous and saprophagous mites responded most negatively to low intensity fire disturbance. Although other feeding guilds examined such as: predatory mites, fungivorous mites and collembolans appear to be quite tolerant to fire-‐disturbance. There were minimal differences in the populations of fungivorous mites between treatments, with greater populations in the unburned experimental sites. A closer examination of fungivorous mite abundances revealed that parthenogenic mites in this guild contributed significantly to its total population, thus allowing this guild to thrive post-‐disturbance. The diurnal migrations of these soil dwelling communities were also examined in two field studies conducted in July and November to determine possible seasonal changes. Environmental measurements were taken along with soil sampling to determine which factors influenced microarthropod densities. There were no significant differences by time for the total populations of microarthropods in both the July andNovember studies. Minimal differences in populations of all feeding guilds by time and time X depth in the July study were detected. Significant differences by depth were observed in all feeding guilds except phytophagous mites, which were sparsely collected beyond the 0- 5 cm depths. The studies revealed some seasonal changes particularly with mites of the family Eulohmannoidea. In addition, this study found that temperature, moisture content and organic matter (LOI) influenced microarthropod densities.
Subject (authority = RUETD)
Topic
Biology
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.