PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #82: Urban Ecology.
Presiding: M. Cadenasso
Thursday, August 8. 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM. Grand Ballroom East, Radisson.

Litter Pick-Up Crew Ahead: leaf decomposition and the soil environment in Asheville, NC.

Pavao-Zuckerman, Mitchell^*,1, Coleman, David¹, ¹ Institute of Ecology, Athens, GA

ABSTRACT- Urban ecology answers the need to understand the environmental implications of urbanization, as well as the recognized need to include humans as components of ecosystems. The data presented here are part of a study conducted to investigate of the effects of urban land-use on ecosystem processes in Asheville, NC. This research is being conducted within a framework for studies along urban-rural gradients. This framework accounts for the interacting effects of urbanization on the physical-chemical environment, biota, and ecosystems. Forested research plots were established along a transect running from Asheville, NC to the Pisgah National Forest to the southwest. Soils are sampled seasonally, and are analyzed for several physical, chemical, and biological variables which relate to soil quality. Litter bags filled with a reference leaf litter, from a common (non-urban) source, were used to determine the in situ environmental impacts of urban land-use on leaf litter decomposition. Preliminary soil data indicate that urbanization impacts the physical, chemical, and biological environments of nutrient cycling. Leaf litter decomposition rates in the urban plots are slower (k = -0.0006) than those in the less urbanized plots (k = -0.0013). These findings suggest that urban land-use mediates nutrient cycling through affects on soil quality.

KEY WORDS: decomposition, urban ecology, soil ecology , soil quality