Fire effects on community resilience, diversity and function of surface-active arthropods in the Missouri Ozark Highlands

Background/Question/Methods

Arthropods are often overlooked in managed forested ecosystems despite the vital roles they play in the ecological function of those systems. Not only are they an important food resource to important wildlife species,  (e.g. turkeys, deer), they contribute to soil genesis and porosity, affect decomposition rates of leaf litter, pollinate plants, and regulate plant species populations and communities through herbivory. In the Missouri Ozark Highlands prescribed fire is a management tool used for invasive species management, wildfire control, timber stand improvement of commercially important tree species, wildlife management and ecological restoration. Arthropods are seldom considered in these management plans. We examined the effects of prescribed fire on resilience, diversity and ecosystem function of surface arthropod communities. At three sites we collected arthropods using pitfall traps set out for two weeks during the summers of 2011 and 2012. Treatment type included burn intervals, topographic aspect and years since last fire. We then sorted and identified arthropods to family, subfamily, and whenever possible genus and species. Each specimen was categorized by feeding guild, i.e. xylophagous, phytophagous, predatory, parasitic, omnivorous, and detritivorous. 

Results/Conclusions

From 800 pitfall traps we have so far identified arthropods from six classes and 25 orders from among all feeding guilds. Some unique species we have found include members of the beetle families Biphyllidae and Eucenitidae. Some common insects include wolf spiders, carpenter ants, wood roaches, cave crickets and sap beetles. Preliminary results show higher diversity in control plots versus burned plots up to six years post fire. These findings may help to establish burn intervals and patterns in the fire regime that allow for surface-active arthropod communities to recover from fire disturbance. By incorporating arthropods into objectives for forest management with fire, managers may expect to find increasing ecosystem stability and promote overall biological diversity.