Arthropods at the Four Seasons Hotel: The correlation between seasonality and diversity of arthropod communities in leaf litter

Seasonality or temporal variation impacts the diversity and abundance of arthropods found within a given area throughout the year whether it is up in the canopy of trees or on the forest floor.  Leaf litter is composed of fallen plant debris such as leaves, bark, and sticks and is an important habitat to many arthropods since they utilize it as a refuge to escape from suboptimal conditions along with being used for foraging and mating purposes.  The composition and depth of leaf litter varies throughout the four seasons and affects the availability of nutrient resources to detritivores, predators, and parasites.  Commonly encountered groups found within leaf litter include: Acari, Araneae, Chilopoda, Collembola, Coleoptera, Diplopoda, Diptera, and Hymenoptera.  Ground beetles (Carabidae) from the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas were collected and identified on a monthly basis to determine species richness and fluctuations in abundance throughout the seasons.