Effects of the Manipulation of Aboveground Plant Diversity in Restoration Management on the Diversity of Belowground Arthropod Assemblage
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
DePaul University Via Sapientiae College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations College of Science and Health 3-2012 Effects of the Manipulation of Aboveground Plant Diversity in Restoration Management on the Diversity of Belowground Arthropod Assemblage Claire E. Gilmore [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/csh_etd Part of the Biology Commons, and the Plant Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Gilmore, Claire E., "Effects of the Manipulation of Aboveground Plant Diversity in Restoration Management on the Diversity of Belowground Arthropod Assemblage" (2012). College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations. 2. https://via.library.depaul.edu/csh_etd/2 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Science and Health at Via Sapientiae. It has been accepted for inclusion in College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Via Sapientiae. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EFFECTS OF THE MANIPULATION OF ABOVEGROUND PLANT DIVERSITY IN RESTORATION MANAGEMENT ON THE DIVERSITY OF BELOWGROUND ARTHROPOD ASSEMBLAGE A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science March, 2012 By Claire E. Gilmore Department of Biological Sciences College of Science and Health DePaul University Chicago, Illinois ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my thesis advisor, Dr. Liam Heneghan, for his enthusiasm, his encouragement, and his resolute dedication to showing me the big picture of how important my findings are at both a local and global level. I am also indebted to my committee members, Dr. Judith Bramble and Dr. Denise Meritt, whose passions for the sciences have enabled me to complete such a well-rounded thesis. I would like to thank the project coordinator of Chicago Wilderness, Lauren Umek, for her immense help with data collection as well as her priceless input and knowledge on various aspects of my thesis. I would also like to thank Darin Kopp for allowing me to use his microarthropod extractors to carry out my data collection and for his input into the overall experimental design of my project. Finally, an honorable mention goes out to my family for their understanding and support; they bestowed upon me the drive to excel in science and strive for higher education. I would especially like to thank Tim Behrens Jr., for his unwavering support and love. He helped me get through some of the tougher times of graduate school without which I could not have completed such a difficult and extensive project. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..............................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................1 Defining Restoration Practices in Soil Ecosystems ...................................................1 Invasive Species Management within Degraded Ecosystems ..................................4 The Role of Soil Organisms in Soil Health ................................................................5 Umbrella Arthropod Species Serve as Surrogate Markers of the Health of an Ecosystem .............................................................................9 The Chicago Context – Background on Chicago Wilderness ................................11 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY .....................................................15 Experimental Design ..................................................................................................15 Plot Description ..........................................................................................................16 Study Sites...................................................................................................................16 General Site Descriptions ..........................................................................................17 Soil Collections ...........................................................................................................21 Microarthropod Extraction ......................................................................................22 Microarthropod Separation and Evaluation ...........................................................23 Microarthropod Photographs ...................................................................................24 Species Diversity Metrics ..........................................................................................24 Soil Nutrients ..............................................................................................................24 Statistical Analysis .....................................................................................................25 RESULTS ...............................................................................................................................26 Effects of Restoration Treatments on the Diversity and Abundance of Microarthropods ...................................................................26 Relationship between Restoration Treatments and Soil Nutrient Data ..........................................................................................27 Relationship between Soil Nutrient Data and Oribatid Mite Species Diversity and Abundance.................................................................27 Relationship between Soil Nutrient Data, the Restoration Treatment of Species Diversity Tests, and Total Mite Abundance (Shannon diversity, Species Evenness, and Species Richness) ............................................................................................27 Microarthropod Facebook ........................................................................................28 Ubiquitous, Common, and Rare Species Found within 11 Management Sites .....................................................................................29 Correlations between Common Species Associations and Species Abundance, Soil Characteristics, and Management Type .........................................................................................29 DISCUSSION .........................................................................................................................31 Oribatid Mite Background........................................................................................32 Correlation between Plant Diversity and Microarthropod Diversity ................................................................................... 33 Aboveground and Belowground Interactions .........................................................34 Manganese ..................................................................................................................35 Striking Relationship between Soil Nutrient Data and Microarthropod Community .............................................................................. 36 Decoupling Aboveground from Belowground Processes .......................................38 Soil Ecological Knowledge ........................................................................................40 Umbrella Species ........................................................................................................41 Invasive Species ..........................................................................................................43 Common and Rare Species Diversity Numbers ......................................................44 Rare Species Diversity ...............................................................................................44 The Relationship between Rare Species and Nutrients in the Soil ........................44 Specific Common Mite Species Associations and their Relationships with Soil Nutrients ........................................................45 Individual Species Relationships with Management Level ....................................47 Restoration Management Implications ....................................................................47 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................48 LITERATURE CITED .........................................................................................................50 TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Sample Extraction Dates and Locations ...................................................55 Table 2: Average Number of Oribatid Mite Species Found in 11 Sampling Locations ..............................................................................56 Table 3: Effects of Management Type on the Four Biological Diversity Measures (Species Abundance, Shannon Diversity Index, Species Evenness, and Species Richness) .........................................57 Table 4: Effects of Management Type on Soil Nutrient Availability ....................58 Table 5: Effects of Soil Nutrients on Total Mite Abundance, Shannon Diversity, Species Evenness, and Species Richness .....................59 Table 6: Four Significant Common Species Associations ......................................60 Figure 1: Species Abundance of Microarthropods Across Restoration Gradient vs. Significant Nutrients Found in the Soil (All 11 Sites) ......................................................................................61 Figure 2: Shannon diversity of Microarthropods Across Restoration Gradient vs. Significant Nutrients Found in the Soil