Huntington Museum of Art Trail by Taylor Brewer

This series of images was taken on September 19, 2011 as a part of my thesis work at Marshall University. In this study, we will be examining soil arthropod abundance and diversity within areas retaining American chestnut (Castanea dentata) sprouts, and areas absent of C. dentata. In particular, we will be focusing on a group of fungal feeders known as Collembola (springtails) as possible terrestrial bioindicators. This area will act as one of my control locations throughout my study. Within this general area, I have mapped out 6 sampling plots and collected soil arthropods for extraction and identification. Other parameters such as soil pH and elevation have been recorded to determine correlations in arthropod distribution within the area. This imagery will provide a visual aid of what does or does not exist within this ecosystem.