Numbers of Eriophorum vaginatum inflorescences, both unclipped and clipped by small mammals, were counted in experimental plots. The plots are setup in moist acidic tussock tundra near Toolik Field Station, Alaska ((8 degrees 37' 27" N, 149 degrees 36' 27"W) and include fenced exclosures in both fertilized and unfertilized tundra.
Data Set Results
Arthropods (spiders and insects) were collected three times during the 2013 summer using pitfall traps and vacuum sampling in plots fertilized with Nitrogen and Phosphorus for 24 years, and in control plots, in an experiment established near Toolik Field Station, Alaska. Pitfall traps were placed for 48-hour intervals; vacuum samples were taken in a 1m2 area. Collected invertebrates were counted and identified to order or family.
Predators can disproportionately impact the structure and function of ecosystems relative to their biomass. These effects may be exacerbated under warming in ecosystems like the Arctic, where the number and diversity of predators are low and small shifts in community interactions can alter carbon cycle feedbacks. Here we show that warming alters the effects of wolf spiders, a dominant tundra predator, on belowground litter decomposition and nutrient dynamics.
Percent cover of tundra vole and brown lemming structures collected from within the Team Vole enclosure/exclosure fences near Nome, Toolik, Utqiagvik, AK 2019.
Soil and plant sampling analysis under small mammal-built structures and controls sites from near the Team Vole fences: Nome, Toolik, Utqiagvik, AK 2018-2020.