Ground beetle communities of remnant and planted tallgrass prairies in Northeastern Iowa: influence of plant community structure and recent fire

This project monitored ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) assemblages over the summer of 2015 in four remnant and four planted tallgrass prairies in northeastern Iowa. The goal of this study was to compare the composition of carabid communities in remnant and planted tallgrass prairies.  Beetles were collected using pitfall traps within each prairie.  Possible treatments included remnant or planted and burned spring of 2015 or unburned. Traps were placed in the field for approximately one week every three weeks from late-May to mid-August.  Samples were taken back to the lab and carabids identified to species and counted. To analyze plant structural complexity that may affect beetle activity, ten samples using a 25 point quadrat sampler along each transect counted grasses, forbs, leaf litter, rock, or bare soil measured percent cover, while three net primary productivity samples per transect measured grass, forbs and litter (g/m2).  Without the August samples processed, we had collected 1715 beetles representing 56 species.  The most common carabid was Cyclotrachelus sodalis, representing about 1/3rd of all carabids collected.  Carabids were 3x more abundant in planted prairies than in remnant prairies, with the fewest carabids and lowest species richness found in small remnant prairies (3 and 11 acres).  Size of remnant prairies affected both abundance and species richness.  Some species of carabids clearly preferred remnant prairies, while others were more abundant in prairie plantings.  The impact of plant structural complexity and fire on the carabid assemblages will also be presented.

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