Invertebrate community response to a shifting mosaic of habitat
Rangeland Ecology and Management
By: David M. Engle, S.D. Fuhlendorf, A. Roper, and David M. Leslie Jr.
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Abstract
Grazing management has focused largely on promoting vegetation homogeneity through uniform distribution of grazing to minimize area in a pasture that is either heavily disturbed or undisturbed. An alternative management model that couples grazing and fire (i.e., patch burning) to promote heterogeneity argues that grazing and fire interact through a series of positive and negative feedbacks to cause a shifting mosaic of vegetation composition and structure across the landscape. We compared patch burning with traditional homogeneity-based management in tallgrass prairie to determine the influence of the two treatments on the aboveground invertebrate community. Patch burning resulted in a temporal flush of invertebrate biomass in patches transitional between unburned and patches burned in the current year. Total invertebrate mass was about 50% greater in these transitional patches within patch-burned pastures as compared to pastures under traditional, homogeneity-based management. Moreover, the mosaic of patches in patch-burned pastures contained a wider range of invertebrate biomass and greater abundance of some invertebrate orders than did the traditionally managed pastures. Patch burning provides habitat that meets requirements for a broad range of invertebrate species, suggesting the potential for patch burning to benefit other native animal assemblages in the food chain.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Invertebrate community response to a shifting mosaic of habitat |
| Series title | Rangeland Ecology and Management |
| DOI | 10.2111/06-149R2.1 |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Year Published | 2008 |
| Language | English |
| Larger Work Type | Article |
| Larger Work Subtype | Journal Article |
| Larger Work Title | Rangeland Ecology and Management |
| First page | 55 |
| Last page | 62 |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |