Impact of the 2008 flood on carabid assemblages in a northeastern Iowa reconstructed prairie

In November 2005, a prairie reconstruction project in Decorah, Iowa was begun to turn a previously farmed soybean field into tallgrass prairie. In June 2008 historic flooding of the Upper Iowa River in Decorah caused the Gateway Prairie to be submerged for roughly three days. Carabid assemblages were collected using pitfall traps in 2007 (pre-flood) and 2008 (post-flood) from transects within the Gateway Prairie. The objective of this study was to quantify differences in carabid assemblages pre- and post-flooding to determine the response of carabids to such a disturbance.