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Q54. Which of the following litter quality attributes is associated with higher

ID: 41078 • Letter: Q

Question

Q54. Which of the following litter quality attributes is associated with higher palatability among most decomposers?

A) High lignin content

B) High tannin content

C) High C:N ratio

D) Low C:N ratio

Q55. A single litterbag with poplar leaf litter has been placed on the forest floor at Coweeta. This bag was harvested and arthropods extracted from it. The sample contains mainly springtails, oribatid mites, predatory mesostigmatid mites, pseudoscorpions, and small spiders. At which stage of decomposition is the leaf litter in this litterbag when it was harvested?

A) Fresh

B) Early

C) Mid

D) Late

Q56. How do microarthropods interact with soil fungi?

Check all that apply:

A) Microarthropods distribute fungal spores to new substrates.

B) Microarthropods provide new substrates for fungi by producing nutrient-rich fecal matter.

C) Microarthropods increase utilization of litter for fungi by fragmenting coarse litter.

Q57. At Coweeta, HWA infestations are expected to lead to hemlock trees being replaced by either tulip poplar or rhododendron. As you learned previously, this shift will affect litter quality. Let's say you sampled decomposer organisms from experimental plots dominated by poplar and plots dominated by rhododendron. Explain how classifying those decomposers by physical position in the litter and soil column might help predict differences in ecosystem function depending on which species replaces hemlock.

Explanation / Answer

Q54) Answer is D. Low C:N ratio. The litter with low C:N ratio is more palatable and will decompose fast. When the litter is more palatable, the decomposers will decompose it fast.

Q55) Answer is D. When the bag was harvested it is having springtails, oribatid mites, predatory mesostigmatid mites, pseudoscorpions, and small spiders, it clearly shows the presence of predators of the scavengers, this shows that the litterbag is in the late stage of decomposition.

Q56) A, B and C. All the below options supports the way micro arthropods interacts with fungi.