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The diversity of arthropods in the surface soil layers of an old-growth redwood forest

Author

Kimberley Jane Horner, University of the Pacific

Date of Award

1993

Document Type

Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

Department

Biological Sciences

First Advisor

Alice S. Hunter

First Committee Member

Lee Christianson

Second Committee Member

Dale McNeal

Abstract

The abundance and diversity of arthropods present in the surface soil layers at various forest sites in northern California were investigated, primarily at two old-growth redwood forest sites in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park and Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. A wide variety of arthropods were found, including representatives of Araneae, Pseudoscorpiones, Opiliones, Acarina, Isopoda, Diplopoda, Chilopoda, Symphyla, Pauropoda, Protura, Diplura, Collembola, Thysanoptera, Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera. Arthropod densities were significantly higher in the wet than in the dry period, indicating seasonal variation in surface densities of soil arthropods. The densities of arthropods in soils collected from beneath coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) trees were not significantly different.

Pages

60

Recommended Citation

Horner, Kimberley Jane. (1993). The diversity of arthropods in the surface soil layers of an old-growth redwood forest. University of the Pacific, Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/2249