D3134: Variation in biodiversity of soil dwelling arthropods in an urban environment

Given that the majority of primary production in terrestrial systems is converted directly into dead organic matter, soil dwelling arthropods play an important role contributing to healthy ecosystems. Higher biodiversity in soil systems is hypothesized to benefit ecosystem function. Generally, high biodiversity is found in rural areas, and lower biodiversity in urban areas. In soil systems, this pattern has generally held, though there have been conflicting findings in the literature. Better understanding of the understudied community of soil dwelling arthropods across rural and urban environments is needed. Consequently, we documented physical and chemical characteristics of soil, in addition to land use and management characteristics, biotic characteristics, and soil arthropod biodiversity along a rural to urban transect in Detroit, Michigan, a large North American post-industrial city. These characterizations occurred at four land use types: residential lawn, vacant lot, community garden, and park, with collections occurring during the spring season. Understanding the patterns of urban soil dwelling arthropod biodiversity sheds light on the drivers of biodiversity and ultimately helps identify management strategies that support and increase soil dwelling biodiversity to promote healthy urban ecosystems.