Susanne Jahn

• To investigate the effects of climate change on interactions within ecosystems, a microcosm experiment was conducted. The effects of temperature increase and predator diversity on Collembola communities and their decomposition rate were investigated. The predators used were mites and Chilopods, whose predation effects on several response variables were analysed. This data included Collembola abundance, biomass and body mass as well as basal respiration and microbial biomass carbon. These response variables were tested against the predictors in several models. Temperature showed high significance in interaction with mite abundance in almost all models. Furthermore, the results of the basal respiration and microbial biomass carbon support the suggestion of a trophic cascade within the animal interaction.