Experimental manipulations of soil arthropod, nematode, and earthworm communities in a North American tallgrass prairie

TitleExperimental manipulations of soil arthropod, nematode, and earthworm communities in a North American tallgrass prairie
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1987
AuthorsSeastedt, TR, Todd, TC, James, SJ
JournalPedobiologia
Volume30
Pagination9 -17
Accession NumberKNZ00161
Keywordstallgrass prairie
Abstract

An insecticide was applied to foliage and an insecticide-nematicide was applied to the soil surface of a North American tallgrass prairie site in an attempt to manipulate population densities of invertebrate consumers. The objectives of this study included 1) measurement of impacts of the dominant root herbivores, June beetle larvae (Phyllophaga spp.: Scarabaeidae) on plant root biomass and production; 2) to evaluate nematode and earthworm response to the chemicals and to correlate changes in these groups with changes in living or dead plant mass, and 3) to test if differences in densities of aboveground invertebrate consumer groups directly or indirectly affected population densities of the belowground groups. The last question resulted from an observation by Seastedt (1985) that moderate aboveground herbivory appears to increase population densities of soil nematodes and certain arthropod groups