Correlating hydric soil water content with arthropod populations in wetlands.
Abstract
With the ever-present threat of global warming, it is essential that ecologists continue to monitor the state of freshwater wetlands. Inundation patterns cycle throughout the year, and with it the water content of wetland soils. By collecting pairs of leaf litter and soil samples along an upland-lowland gradient, the relationship between arthropod populations and soil water content can be examined. Six different wetland sites of varying classification in southeastern Ohio were sampled during June-August of 2024. Litter samples were processed using a Berlese funnel and specimens were identified in the lab using dissection microscopes, while soil samples were weighed and baked to determine water content . Our overarching goal was to determine if terrestrial soil and leaf litter arthropods could be used as bioindicators of the frequency and duration of inundation in wetlands.
Status
Undergraduate
Department
Biological Sciences
College
Honors Tutorial College
Campus
Athens
Faculty Mentor
Johnson, Kelly
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Correlating hydric soil water content with arthropod populations in wetlands.
With the ever-present threat of global warming, it is essential that ecologists continue to monitor the state of freshwater wetlands. Inundation patterns cycle throughout the year, and with it the water content of wetland soils. By collecting pairs of leaf litter and soil samples along an upland-lowland gradient, the relationship between arthropod populations and soil water content can be examined. Six different wetland sites of varying classification in southeastern Ohio were sampled during June-August of 2024. Litter samples were processed using a Berlese funnel and specimens were identified in the lab using dissection microscopes, while soil samples were weighed and baked to determine water content . Our overarching goal was to determine if terrestrial soil and leaf litter arthropods could be used as bioindicators of the frequency and duration of inundation in wetlands.