The Influence of Prescribed Burning on Spiders and Pseudoscorpions: Known Predators of Woodland Litter Springtails‪.‬

ABSTRACT To test the effect of prescribed burning on spiders and pseudoscorpions, leaf litter samples of invertebrates were collected from the East Woods of the Morton Arboretum. Of 162 samples extracted through modified Tullgren funnels, half were taken from previously burned areas and half from areas that had not been burned. Four years of data for each of three seasons within a span of 12 years were analyzed. Significantly fewer individual spiders were collected in burned areas than in unburned areas. Pseudoscorpions were present in approximately equal numbers in burned and unburned areas. Species diversity was greater for spiders than for pseudoscorpions with 12 families, 30 genera, and 22 species of spiders represented in the samples. Only 3 species of pseudoscorpions were collected. Results of this study suggest that to maintain or increase diversity of these invertebrates in natural environments where controlled burning is used as a management tool, frequency of burns should be changed from annual to every two or three years. In addition, several fire exclusion areas should be included that can serve as refuges for fire sensitive species to repopulate burned areas.