Patterns and processes of arthropod community succession after a fire

Abstract

At present little is known about arthropod recolonization and community succession after disturbance. Arthropods are critical in ecosystems as members of food webs and accelerators of nutrient cycling. The degree to and speed with which they return to disturbed habitat is thus of great interest to researchers and land managers alike. We compared abundance and diversity of arthropods in mid-successional (after a 1993 wildfire) and mature California coastal sage scrub (CSS), a vanishing ecosystem in southern California (Westman 1981) that is threatened primarily by urban development (Davis and others 1994), associated increases in wildfire intensity (Minnich 1983), and invasion by non-native grasses (Alberts and others 1993). Our general purpose was to determine whether arthropod communities in mid-successional habitat are qualitatively different from those in mature habitat. Specifically, we investigated whether foraging guild structure, abundance, and diversity differ in relation to fire history and whether there is evidence of failure in community recovery after a fire. Lastly, we compared our results for the entire arthropod community to those for just the Diptera, a highly volant insect order within which all guilds are represented.

Parent Publication

• Planning for biodiversity: bringing research and management together; Proceedings of a Symposium for the South Coast Ecoregion

Citation

Burger, Jutta C.; Patten, Michael A.; Rotenberry, John T.; Redak, Richard A. 2005. Patterns and processes of arthropod community succession after a fire. In: Kus, Barbara E., and Beyers, Jan L., technical coordinators. Planning for Biodiversity: Bringing Research and Management Together. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-195. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture: 249-251