Document: RAU-3-56-6

Comparisons among the arthropod community found at the leaf litter, aerial space under the canopy and on box elder Acer negundo saplings in a hardwood forest in Maryland.

MEDINA, R.F.* and P.BARBOSA

University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 ¹

Abstract:
As part of a study that looked at the impact of predators of Lepidoptera larvae in box elder saplings in a hardwood forest, the arthropod community was assessed to test if there were significant differences in the structure of the communities present at three distinct habitats: the forest leaf litter, the aerial space under the forest canopy and on box elder saplings. Sampled arthropods were grouped in three categories: (1) predators of Lepidoptera larvae, (2) predators of prey other than Lepidoptera larvae and (3) non predators. Percentage of arthropods found in each one of these categories was compared among the three habitats considered in the study. Unlike previous studies, arthropod samplings were performed at the same study site and during the same period of time. We found that the percentage of predators as a whole on the box elder saplings was higher than the percentage of predators occurring at the leaf litter and at the aerial space under the canopy. However, the percentage of predators of Lepidoptera larvae in the saplings was considerably lower. It was also found that none of the spider species collected in the saplings were collected in the leaf litter suggesting that the community of predators found on the leaf litter do not necessarily act as a source of predators for forest saplings as it is usually assumed.

Keywords: Predator community, Lepidoptera larvae, spiders

This abstract is being presented at: 10:45 AM in session:
Oral Session #44: Terrestrial Invertebrates: Foodwebs and Plant Responses.