About me
Nat Kennedy, Marla Schwarzfeld, Christian Messier, Annick St. Denis, I. Tanya Handa
Soil mesofauna include tiny invertebrates such as mites and springtails that contribute to important ecosystem functions such as organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling. Despite their abundance in urban soils, little is known about the influence of various urban forest management practices on mesofaunal communities. We studied the effect of mulching and tree species selection on soil mesofaunal communities and leaf litter decomposition rates of three common urban tree species. We hypothesized that mulching would increase mesofaunal abundance and diversity and correspondingly, litter decomposition rates. Soil mesofauna were sampled from below 10 replicates each of Acer saccharinum, Gleditsia triacanthos, and Quercus marcrocarpa trees with and without ramial chipped wood mulch treatments in an urban forest experimental plantation in summer 2023. Mesofauna from soil and mulch samples were counted and morphological identification is ongoing. Litter mass loss was determined over the winter and into spring 2024. We found that soil mesofauna were 11 times more abundant within ramial chipped wood mulch, however in soil below the mulch, mesofaunal abundance did not differ from controls nor between tree species. Litter mass loss was lower beneath mulched trees despite the higher mesofaunal abundance, potentially because of differences in soil moisture. Future research in summer 2025 will include comparisons of different mulch types to further elucidate potential effects on soil mesofauna and better inform urban forest management practices.
