Nematode functional groups in quadrat treatments on canopy gradient plots

Previous studies have suggested that herbivory in forest canopies can influence forest floor processes such as nutrient cycling and decomposition. We studied the response of litter decomposition to a moisture/productivity gradient with manipulations of the effects of canopy herbivory at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, North Carolina. Litterbags containing Quercus rubra L. and Acerrubrum L. litter were placed at three elevations along the gradient and sampled monthly for two years. Microarthropods, nematodes, and litter mass loss responses to the productivity gradient were measured. The relative abundance of Collembola and three suborders of mites (Oribatida, Mesostigmata and Prostigmata) was compared across the gradient. Numbers of nematodes per gram dry weight of litter are reported from litterbags placed in quadrat treatment boxes on canopy gradient sites. Treatments used on quadrat boxes include frass additions (boxes 3,8,13,18,23), thrufall additions (boxes 4,9,14,19,24), controls (boxes 5,10,15,20,25), greenfall exclusion (boxes 2,7,12,17,22) and litterfall exclusion (boxes 1,6,11,16,21). Frass and throughfall treatments were initiated in spring of 1998. See Reynolds 2000.