Monday, December 10, 2007
D0136

Subterranean arthropod communities in native tallgrass prairie: Effects of seasonal prescribed fires

Alfred Leak, atl5e4@mizzou.edu, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1-41 Agriculture Bldg, Columbia, MO and Robert W. Sites, sitesr@missouri.edu, University of Missouri, Division of Plant Sciences, 1-31 Agriculture Bldg, Columbia, MO.

The tallgrass prairie of North America is a highly diverse assemblage of flora and fauna. Tallgrass prairie is maintained, in part, by the use of prescribed vegetational burns. This study identifies the subterranean arthropod taxa of a typical tallgrass prairie, and documents the effects of different seasonal prescribed burns on this community. Significant changes in the arthropod community are also compared with changes in various physical and chemical parameters.


Species 1: Acariformes Oribatulidae Leibstadia similis