TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of prescribed burning on endophytic insect communities of prairie perennials (Asteraceae: Silphium spp.)
AU - Tooker, John F.
AU - Hanks, Lawrence M.
N1 - Funding Information:
We appreciate assistance provided by M.W. Tooker, J.A. Mohler, and A.L. Crumrin in the field and lab. We also thank S. Buck, J. Taft, M.K. Solecki, R.C. Anderson, and members of Red Bison (a University of Illinois Registered Student Organization) for conducting burns at these sites. Thanks also to the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, Red Bison, and the Committee of Natural Areas of the School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), for permitting access to our study sites. This work was in partial fulfillment of a Ph.D. degree for J.F.T. from UIUC. Funding was provided in part by a Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research, a grant from Prairie Biotic Research, Inc., and a Summer Research Grant from the Program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the School of Integrative Biology, UIUC.
PY - 2004/9
Y1 - 2004/9
N2 - Prescribed burning currently is used to preserve endemicity of plant communities in remnant tallgrass prairies. Although some types of arthropods benefit from changes in plant communities brought about by burning, other species that are endemic to prairies may be threatened. Because they inhabit the 'fuel layer' of prairies, endophytic insects would seem particularly susceptible to this management tactic. In this paper, we assess the impact of prescribed burning on endophytic insect communities inhabiting stems of Silphium laciniatum L. and S. terebinthinaceum Jacquin (Asteraceae), endemic prairie plants. Populations of these insects were decimated by burning, with mortality approaching 100% in most cases. Their populations nevertheless began to rebound within a single growing season, with densities moderately but significantly reduced 1 year after the burn. Even when a prairie remnant was completely incinerated, plant stems were recolonized by insects within one growing season. Our findings suggest that sufficient numbers of endophytic insects survive burns in remains of Silphium to recolonize burned areas the following year.
AB - Prescribed burning currently is used to preserve endemicity of plant communities in remnant tallgrass prairies. Although some types of arthropods benefit from changes in plant communities brought about by burning, other species that are endemic to prairies may be threatened. Because they inhabit the 'fuel layer' of prairies, endophytic insects would seem particularly susceptible to this management tactic. In this paper, we assess the impact of prescribed burning on endophytic insect communities inhabiting stems of Silphium laciniatum L. and S. terebinthinaceum Jacquin (Asteraceae), endemic prairie plants. Populations of these insects were decimated by burning, with mortality approaching 100% in most cases. Their populations nevertheless began to rebound within a single growing season, with densities moderately but significantly reduced 1 year after the burn. Even when a prairie remnant was completely incinerated, plant stems were recolonized by insects within one growing season. Our findings suggest that sufficient numbers of endophytic insects survive burns in remains of Silphium to recolonize burned areas the following year.
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U2 - 10.1023/B:BIOC.0000035872.24201.30
DO - 10.1023/B:BIOC.0000035872.24201.30
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:1942489577
SN - 0960-3115
VL - 13
SP - 1875
EP - 1888
JO - Biodiversity and Conservation
JF - Biodiversity and Conservation
IS - 10
ER -