Effects of Invasive Amur Honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) and White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on Litter-Dwelling Arthropod Communities

Abstract

Abstract Litter-dwelling arthropods play crucial roles in litter decomposition and nutrient cycling, and changes in their diversity or abundance can affect these processes. Previous studies have outlined individual effects of invasive plants and overabundant ungulates on litter-dwelling arthropod communities but have paid little attention to whether invasive plants and ungulates interact to affect these arthropod communities. We examined how invasive Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) and grazing by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) affected diversity, abundance, and taxonomic composition of litter-dwelling arthropod communities in a deciduous forest in southwestern Ohio. We also examined whether deer or honeysuckle affected substrate composition and depth of litter. We found no significant effect of honeysuckle, deer, or their interaction on arthropod diversity, but exclusion of deer increased total arthropod abundance and abundance of Araneae, and thereby affected taxonomic composition of the ...