2. The Road Not Taken: The Effect of Road Intensity on Carrion Beetle Diversity Heather Graham-Alexander, Bubu Bennett, Kim Charlie Ellen Creveling, James Danoff-Burg, Illisa Kelman Angeline Valentine, Marta Vicarelli Black Rock Forest SEE-U 2000 Columbia University

3. Introduction What are the effects of human disturbances on decomposer communities? Reduced movement as a result of human caused fragmentation Isolated gene pools and a higher risk of extinction Decreased ability of vagile species to compete for patchily distributed resources

4. Linear Clearings/ Edge Effects Abiotic Changes Increased light penetration, heat, and wind Effects can penetrate forest up to 100’s of meters Smaller areas = Smaller diversity of species Smaller habitat range Less resources

5. Question What is the effect of road intensity on the diversity of carrion beetle communities? Road intensity o Traffic o Number of lanes / size o Construction material o Canopy cover

6. Hypotheses Road intensity will lessen species diversity Road intensity will increase species diversity Road intensity will not affect species diversity

7. Methods And Materials Three roads with varying intensity Single lane dirt road Double lane paved Four lane highway 5 traps baited with carrion placed along each road Interval of traps set outside of species range Designed from 2 liter plastic bottles Bait = chicken thigh Trap Used

8. Methods and Materials cont… After five days retrieved the traps Counted and sorted the specimens Recorded and analyzed data

9. Average Abundance – Nicrophorus tomentosus

10. Species Average Abundance – All Other Species

11. Species Average Richness – All Species

12. Conclusions Species abundance was highest in lowest road intensity areas Average richness of species is higher in the medium intensity road condition Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis may be an explanation of this phenomenon Particular site may have had favorable conditions for an increased diversity in species Nicrophorus tomentosus is a generalist species and thus most abundant and most widely distributed

13. Works Cited