Canino, Tess2023-09-202023-09-202023https://hdl.handle.net/1813/113447This study focuses on the effect that coarse woody residuals left on the ground post-forest thinning have on the biodiversity of soil-dwelling arthropods, as measured by the number of arthropod individuals and the presence of different taxonomic groups. Soil arthropods are vital to forest systems in their composition of the soil food web, which significantly contributes to nutrient cycling within he forest ecosystem. To understand the impacts of woody residuals on soil arthropods, soil samples were taken from treated and untreated sites in mixed forest stands in the Northeast. The number of arthropod individuals, as well as taxa present per treatment site, were measured. Arthropods were organized and summed per treatment type, and the mean numbers of arthropods per treatment were calculated. A Kruskal-Wallis test showed a significant difference in the mean number of arthropods by treatment. In general, plots with treetop material on the ground had the highest mean number of individual arthropods. Pairwise comparisons show that plots with treetop material had a significantly higher mean number of individuals than nearby paired plots devoid of treetop material, and all plots within the treatment where whole trees were removed during harvest. These findings have implications for preserving soil arthropod communities during the process of partial tree harvest. This study highlights the benefit of leaving behind woody residuals during harvest in order to maintain abundance within the soil community, contributing to a healthy forest ecosystem.Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Internationalsoil biotatree-thinningforestrywoody residualssoil arthropodsarthropod diversitydissertation or thesis