Appendix B. Detailed collection information about the morphospecies.
Notes: During each sampling visit, leaf packs were emptied into a white sorting tray. The internal body cavity of the rats was examined after the black putrification stage and prior to the butyric fermentation stage of vertebrate decomposition (Bornemissza 1957). To avoid disturbing the experiment and to minimize disruption to the community succession by removing individuals, animals were rarely collected, and animals were identified to lowest possible taxonomic position (morphospecies) based on external morphology in the field. Detailed notes and field keys were used to keep these identifications consistent over the two year study. Animals were collected only when it was essential to obtain voucher specimens for identification. When possible, specimens of some commonly seen species that were not familiar to one of us (KS, who has over a decade of experience working with West Virginia cave invertebrates) were collected and sent to expert taxonomists for identification. Collected animals were preserved in 70% ethanol and remain in the collections of the taxonomists or with KS. In a few cases, juvenile cave organisms (which cannot generally be assigned to species but are likely to play different functional roles than their adult forms) were retained as separate morphospecies in our analyses below. Though the term “cave organism” commonly refers to a cave-obligate species (troglobionts), the majority of the organisms investigated in this study were “troglophiles”, or cave-loving species that are not restricted to caves. Though troglobionts are of primary conservation concern, troglophiles represent an important component of the ecological community and were the most abundant species in this study.
TABLE B1. Designation of morphospecies to order, and the number of individuals observed within each morphospecies throughout the 23 months of the resource manipulation experiment.
Class | Order | Morphosp. |
Individuals Observed |
Arachnida | Acari | 9 | 928 |
Araneae | 3 | 72 | |
Opiliones | 1 | 21 | |
Pseudoscorpiones | 3 | 47 | |
Chilopoda | Geophilomorpha | 1 | 5 |
Lithobiomorpha | 1 | 3 | |
Scolopendromorpha | 1 | 2 | |
Oligochaeta | Haplotaxida | 1 | 208 |
Copepoda | Harpacticoida | 1 | 28 |
Malacostraca | Isopoda | 3 | 142 |
Diplopoda | Chordeumatida | 4 | 2434 |
Julida | 1 | 165 | |
Polydesmida | 4 | 40 | |
Spirostrepida | 1 | 34 | |
Unknown | 2 | 99 | |
Gastropoda | Pulmonata | 1 | 72 |
Hexapoda | Blattaria | 1 | 1 |
Coleoptera | 14 | 814 | |
Collembola | 18 | 6488 | |
Dermaptera | 1 | 5 | |
Diplura | 3 | 8 | |
Diptera | 19 | 7322 | |
Hemiptera | 1 | 8 | |
Hymenoptera | 1 | 15 | |
Lepidoptera | 1 | 3 | |
Orthoptera | 2 | 702 | |
Siphonaptera | 1 | 11 | |
Nematoda | Unknown | 1 | 186 |
Symphyla | Cephalostigmata | 1 | 2 |
Tubellaria | Seriata | 1 | 1 |
Totals | 102 | 19866 |
TABLE B2. Classification of morphospecies found utilizing rat treatments, but not leaf treatments.
Class | Order |
Morphosp. only in Rat |
Individuals Observed |
Arachnida | Acari | 1 | 2 |
Pseudoscorpiones | 1 | 20 | |
Chilopoda | Geophilomorpha | 1 | 5 |
Scolopendromorpha | 1 | 2 | |
Diplopoda | Polydesmida | 1 | 1 |
Spirostrepida | 1 | 34 | |
Hexapoda | Coleoptera | 3 | 20 |
Collembola | 3 | 7 | |
Diplura | 1 | 3 | |
Diptera | 6 | 1211 | |
Hemiptera | 1 | 8 | |
Lepidoptera | 1 | 3 | |
Totals | 21 | 1316 |
TABLE B3: Classification of morphospecies found utilizing leaf treatments, but not rat treatments.
Class | Order |
Morphosp. only in Leaves |
Individuals Observed |
Arachnida | Araneae | 1 | 9 |
Chilopoda | Lithobiomorpha | 1 | 3 |
Diplopoda | Polydesmida | 1 | 1 |
Unknown | 1 | 1 | |
Hexapoda | Blattaria | 1 | 1 |
Coleoptera | 1 | 1 | |
Collembola | 2 | 2 | |
Diplura | 1 | 1 | |
Diptera | 1 | 4 | |
Symphyla | Cephalostigmata | 1 | 2 |
Tubellaria | Seriata | 1 | 1 |
Totals | 12 | 26 |
LITERATURE CITED
Bornemissza, G. F. 1957. An analysis of arthropod succession in carrion and the effect of its decomposition on the soil fauna. Australian Journal of Zoology 5:1–12.