How does forest management impact Collembola abundance and leaf litter decomposition?

North American forest ecosystems face many disturbances including invasive plants in the understory. Invasive understory plants negatively impact native plant communities by reducing growth, removing nutrients from the soil, and shifting ecosystem dynamics. Management programs aim to reduce these negative impacts by removing and treating invasive plants in forest understories. This practice is often paired with canopy thinning, which increases light availability in the understory to encourage growth of native plants. However, management can also cause disturbances to the forest floor environment that rapidly change habitat for litter-dwelling arthropods such as Collembola. It is unclear how these disturbances caused by forest management may impact their populations and the ecosystem services they provide. Collembola is one of many groups responsible for recycling nutrients from plant detritus on the forest floor into usable soil nutrients for plant growth. Their ecological role along with their sensitivity to light, heat, and moisture changes makes them a suitable indicator group for disturbance. Our aim is to determine how canopy thinning and invasive plant removal impact the abundance of Collembola. The productivity of Collembola and other microdetritivores will be measured by comparing the decomposition rates of invasive and native plant litter in managed and unmanaged sites.