| Summary: | <p> Anthropogenic trampling affects soil and litter-dwelling invertebrate communities in southern California parks, potentially altering community dynamics and hindering nutrient cycling in coastal oak woodland habitats. I collected meso- and macro-faunal community data from leaf litter and soil in frequently and infrequently trampled areas of six San Diego and three Orange County parks during fall 2011 and spring 2012. I recorded relative compaction, moisture percentage and litter mass then extracted eight soil monoliths at each park (25cm x 25cm x 5cm depth) and the detritus above them. I hypothesized frequently trampled invertebrate communities would show decreased abundance, richness and diversity and altered assemblages compared to infrequently trampled communities. Low impact areas showed higher richness and diversity in the soil layer in fall and leaf litter layer in spring. In the laboratory, I hypothesized Lumbricus terrestris earthworms would be more active, creating more large water-stable soil aggregates in low compaction treatments but found no effect of compaction on soil aggregates.</p>
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