Soil microarthropod density data for saddle snowfence and S slope of Niwot Ridge, 1992 - 1993.

These data were used in this publication: O'Lear, H.A., and T.R. Seastedt. 1994. Landscape
patterns of litter decomposition in alpine tundra. Oecologia 99: 95-101. doi: 10.1007/BF00317088 Microarthropod densities in the upper 5 cm of soil were estimated for different
alpine communities on Niwot Ridge in the Front Range of Colorado. Densitites were
higher than previously reported and averaged 111,200 individualsgm2. Acari dominated
this group and composed 80-90% of the fauna; Collembola composed an average of 15%.
Oribatid mites composed 23-58% of total densities, while Prostigmatid mites composed
32-54%. The relative abundance of the Oribatid and Prostigmatid mites varied
significantly across the landscape, with Prostigmatids more abundant in the xeric
sites. Composition of the detritus-based food web appear to change substantially
across the snow depth gradient found in the alpine tundra. NOTE: The LTER data portal display does not display important maintenance/log
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