Over reliance on annual burning, with or without mowing, may be harmful to soil arthropods

Abstract

Arthropods are important building-blocks for maintaining the health of prairies and savannas. Without arthropods, the ecosystems of the world would be thrown into chaos and the rapid extinction of most of the worlds species would occur (Wilson, 1992). While above ground arthropods are diverse and abundant, there are many more arthropods hidden under the soil (Seastedt, 1984). These soil arthropods are herbivores, predators, scavengers, parasites, and parasite hosts (Taron, 1997). They play an important role in the decomposition and dispersal of organic matter (Wallwork, 1967). Despite their importance, very few studies have examined soil arthropods. Now researchers are realizing that many prairies are in danger of losing their complement of arthropod species, one by one, because many species have small and vulnerable populations, affected and damaged by weather, fire and stochastic population fluctuations (Taron, 1997; Panzer and Schwartz, 1997). Soil arthropods should be studied under various conditions of disturbance to determine what best preserves their abundance and diversity levels.