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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Comparisons Of Above- And Below-Ground Carbon Storage In A Northeastern Illinois Urban Forest Following Rhamnus Cathartica And Fraxinus Spp. Removal, River Sanchez-Dudik, Elene Drosos
Comparisons Of Above- And Below-Ground Carbon Storage In A Northeastern Illinois Urban Forest Following Rhamnus Cathartica And Fraxinus Spp. Removal, River Sanchez-Dudik, Elene Drosos
DePaul Discoveries
This study focused on quantifying potential differences in ecosystem services (carbon storage, soil organic matter, macroarthropod density) in a small, partially restored urban forest in order to determine if common buckthorn and standing dead ash removal effects can be detected while restoration is on-going. We calculated aboveground carbon storage (tons/total area) using whole tree biomass equations and compared this to i-Tree Canopy estimations. We collected SOM through loss-on-ignition and collected macroinvertebrates by pitfall trapping to determine differences along transects. Aboveground carbon storage, soil organic matter, and macroinvertebrate total results for this study were found to be statistically not significant, indicating …
Interspersed Denuded Zone (Idz): How Patchy Leaf Litter Dynamics In A Buckthorn-Invaded Urban Woodland Can Affect Microarthropod Species Richness, Angela Stenberg
Interspersed Denuded Zone (Idz): How Patchy Leaf Litter Dynamics In A Buckthorn-Invaded Urban Woodland Can Affect Microarthropod Species Richness, Angela Stenberg
DePaul Discoveries
Biodiversity loss may serve as a key diagnostic of the Anthropocene. An important driver of this loss is by means of invasive species. In this study of a forest preserve in Chicago, Illinois we examined Interspersed Denuded Zones (IDZs for short), which are areas of patchy leaf litter in invaded forests caused in this case by the rapid decomposition of litter from buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica). We characterized the leaf litter mass in IDZs and enumerated litter-inhabiting microarthropod populations. We found that plots of high buckthorn density are associated with IDZs: there was significantly less leaf litter mass in …