Soil heterotrophic respiration has largely been ignored as a source of carbon flux despite more carbon released per organism than soil-dwelling micro-organisms. Similarly, biotic responses to aboveground disturbance on below ground communities is poorly understood, despite its significance to ecosystem function. Soil properties such as soil chemistry, respiration, and decomposition are heavily influenced by bioturbating arthropods and microbe communities which maintain soil functionality in an ecosystem. Thus, understanding heterotrophic respiration and biotic responses of below-ground communities to large-scale forest disturbance can shape our understanding of ecosystem function. In this study, a large-scale forest disturbance experiment (FoRTE) alters canopy structure along a gradient, thus changing energy availability on the forest floor. The goal of this study is to characterize soil arthropod community’s response to a gradient of structural change in varying landscapes through arthropod biomass, activity, and community structure. In order to do this, pitfall traps will be placed in the center and 4 cardinal corners of each disturbance-severity plot for each landscape. Pitfall traps will be left out for 72 hours, collected, and identified for (at least) 3 sampling periods. Heterotrophic respiration associated with each plot and pitfall trap will be estimated from biomass and analyzed for implications within carbon cycling regimes.