Communtiy Structure and Nutrient Content of Canopy Arthropods in Clearcut and Uncut Forest Ecosystems

Abstract

This paper describes differences in canopy arthropod community structure, major cation content, and calculated nutrient consumption between clearcut and undisturbed hardwood forest watersheds at Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, North Carolina, USA, during the first two growing seasons following cutting. Although canopy arthropod biomass was about 0.08% of foliage biomass on both watersheds, aphid mass increased 23—fold and ant mass increased 6—fold per unit foliage mass following cutting. These groups in general had lower nutrient concentrations than did chewing herbivores and predators. Arthropod K concentrations were 33% lower on the clearcut; Na, K, and Mg concentrations were 20%—50% higher in 1978 than in 1977. Arthropod Mg and Ca concentrations, but not Na, and K, were reduced significantly more by the greater effect of drought on the clearcut watershed. Consumption estimates based in part on consumption rates reported by others indicated increased nutrient translocation from foliage via arthropods following cutting. These data indicated that canopy arthropod responses in nutrient availability following disturbance could have increased nutrient cycling rates and contributed to nutrient retention by the recovering ecosystem.