440 S. F. MacLean, Jr. 



TABLE 11-9 Invertebrate Respiration and 



Primary Production at a High Arctic 

 Tundra and North Temperate 

 Moorland Site 



Source: Devon Island, Whitfield (1977); Moor House, Coulson 

 and Whittaker (1978). 



Comparable data are available for high arctic tundra on Devon 

 Island, Canada, and for the tundra-like peat moorlands of the British 

 Isles (Table 11-9). Values for invertebrate respiration in two habitats at 

 Devon Island are about one-fifth the value reported here for the coastal 

 tundra. Primary production in the sedge-moss meadow at Devon Island 

 is about equivalent to that of the Carex-Oncophorus meadow of the Bar- 

 row area; thus, the estimated role of invertebrates in this habitat is much 

 smaller than we find in meadows of the coastal tundra of northern 

 Alaska. In the dry cushion plant-lichen community on Devon Island pri- 

 mary production is lower and invertebrates apparently play a greater di- 

 rect role in community energetics. 



Expressed as a proportion of primary production, invertebrate res- 

 piration in peat soils of the British moorland site is about the same as in 

 the arctic coastal tundra near Barrow. The higher invertebrate activity in 

 mineral soils results from the large populations of earthworms (Lumbri- 

 cidae), which are scarce in peat soils. The difference between peat and 

 mineral soils is attributed to the low nutrient status of the vegetation and 

 resulting litter of peat soils (Coulson and Whittaker 1978), a situation 

 that may be shared with the coastal tundra ecosystem. 



In Chapter 9 a theoretical estimate of annual production by micro- 



