{"id":2217,"date":"2025-03-26T09:00:31","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T09:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?p=2217"},"modified":"2025-04-02T00:52:52","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T00:52:52","slug":"arthropod-response-to-long-term-prescribed-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/arthropod-response-to-long-term-prescribed-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"Arthropod Response to Long-term Prescribed Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/files\/2025\/03\/Arthropods-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2219 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/files\/2025\/03\/Arthropods-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"671\" height=\"671\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/files\/2025\/03\/Arthropods-1.png 4500w, https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/files\/2025\/03\/Arthropods-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/files\/2025\/03\/Arthropods-1-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/files\/2025\/03\/Arthropods-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/files\/2025\/03\/Arthropods-1-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/files\/2025\/03\/Arthropods-1-75x75.png 75w, https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/files\/2025\/03\/Arthropods-1-1536x1536.png 1536w, https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/files\/2025\/03\/Arthropods-1-2048x2048.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 671px) 100vw, 671px\" \/><\/a>Prescribed fire is a powerful tool for rangeland management, often used to control invasive species, promote native plant growth, and reduce wildfire risk. But what about the impact on the smaller inhabitants of our rangeland systems? A 2024 study sheds light on how prescribed fire, particularly long-term fire regimes and legacy fire effects, affect arthropod communities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In addition to this 2024 featured publication, there is exciting data and new research from Dr. Camille Carey (TAMU RWFM recent graduate) showing prescribed fire can actually increase species richness, biodiversity, and composition within arthropod populations similar to this study from Kruger National Park. Together, researchers are piecing an interesting piece of the belowground puzzle where greater varieties of insects, spiders, and other invertebrates thrive in areas managed with fire.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 2024 study conducted in Kruger National Park, South Africa, provides specific data on the abundance and richness of different arthropod groups:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Formicidae (Ants):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> While frequent fires reduced ant abundance, prescribed fire overall led to a significant increase in their richness (variety of species).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Orthoptera (Grasshoppers &amp; Crickets):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Similar to ants, frequent fires reduced abundance, but prescribed fire supported a diverse Orthoptera population.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Coleoptera (Beetles):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Both abundance and richness of beetles saw an increase, highlighting their resilience and adaptability to fire-managed landscapes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Araneae (Spiders):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> While abundance was low, spider richness saw a substantial increase, suggesting that prescribed fire can create favorable habitats for diverse spider species.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prescribed fire can be a valuable conservation tool for arthropods throughout rangelands. By mimicking natural fire regimes, managers can create habitats that support a wide array of invertebrate life, contributing to overall ecosystem health and resilience, that inevitably feeds into successful grazing and drought responses.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For more information, you can read the full study &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/files\/2025\/03\/Responses-of-ground-dwelling-arthropods-to-long-term-prescribed-fire.pdf\">Responses of ground dwelling arthropods to long term prescribed fire<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stay tuned for Camille Carey\u2019s (TAMU RWFM PhD) arthropod research including prescribed fire treatments at the Sonora Experiment Station and at the San Angelo Research Center!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Reference:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mukwevho, L. et al. &#8220;Responses of Ground-Dwelling Arthropods to Long-Term Prescribed Fire Regimes in a Savanna-Protected Area.&#8221; Rangeland Ecology &amp; Management 95, 46-55 (2024.)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prescribed fire is a powerful tool for rangeland management, often used to control invasive species, promote native plant growth, and reduce wildfire risk. But what about the impact on the smaller inhabitants of our rangeland systems? A 2024 study sheds light on how prescribed fire, particularly long-term fire regimes and legacy fire effects, affect arthropod&#8230; <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/arthropod-response-to-long-term-prescribed-fire\/\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2037,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-prescribed-burning","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Arthropod Response to Long-term Prescribed Fire - West Texas Rangelands<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/arthropod-response-to-long-term-prescribed-fire\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Arthropod Response to Long-term Prescribed Fire - West Texas Rangelands\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Prescribed fire is a powerful tool for rangeland management, often used to control invasive species, promote native plant growth, and reduce wildfire risk. 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