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- Title
MACROARTHROPOD LEAF LITTER COMMUNITY RECOVERY AFTER PRESCRIBED FIRE IN AN EAST TEXAS MIXED HARDWOOD-PINE FOREST.
- Authors
Watson, Charles M.; Nicholson, Melisssa L.
- Abstract
Silvicultural managers use fire to reduce competition with commercial species, reduce fuel loads, and enhance recreational experiences by removing underbrush. These bums can have a dramatic effect on leaf-litter macroarthropods and the reptilian, mammalian, and arthropod predators that prey upon them. This study examines the effects of fire on macroarthropod density and richness by sampling the leaf litter at different sites within a mixed hardwood-pine forest in East Texas at various stages of recovery from a low-intensity prescribed burn. Leaf litter samples were obtained from the field and the macroarthropods were separated using a Tullegren funnel and identified to order. We found that macrorthropod density is initially depleted, but generally returns to no-burn levels within two to three years. Richness remains relatively constant, but fungivores, such as Diplopods, are absent from all burned sites. We suggest that the recovery of macroarthropod density is a prerequisite for the associated recovery of predatory species and may be instmmental in the recovery of the leaf litter community as a whole.
- Subjects
EAST Texas; FOREST litter; ARTHROPOD diversity; WILDLIFE recovery; PRESCRIBED burning; HARDWOOD forests; PINE
- Publication
Texas Journal of Science, 2011, Vol 63, Issue 1/2, p37
- ISSN
0040-4403
- Publication type
Article