Ecological Archives E092-064-A2

Katie Schneider, Mary C. Christman, and William F. Fagan. 2011. The influence of resource subsidies on cave invertebrates: results from an ecosystem-level manipulation experiment. Ecology 92:765–776.

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.


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