Get reliable rangeland science

Dung beetles are ecologically and economically important insects in rangeland ecosystems. They recycle nutrients, reduce livestock parasites, and are a food source for some wildlife species. Fire is a common management tool to control brush and improve forage in rangelands. The influence of prescribed rangeland fire on the dung beetle community in the United States is an understudied issue. Burning can influence grazing animal distribution since grazing animals are attracted to regrowing forage. As a result, grazing animals create a strong contrast in vegetation structure between burned and unburned areas. This aggregation of grazing animals and contrast in vegetation structure may influence dung beetle abundance in recently burned areas. Our study was conducted June 9th � 16th, 2015 and June 20th � 26th, 2016 at Matador Wildlife Management Area within the Texas Rolling Plains. Three spring prescribed burns were conducted in 2015 and 2016. We established six sample locations across the three burned areas each year. Each sampling location contained four baited pitfall traps with two in the burned area and two in the adjacent unburned area. Traps were collected daily for six days. Trap bait was replaced every other day. Nine taxa of dung beetles were identified in 2015. Covariates examined included treatment, vegetation visual obstruction, and dung density. In 2015, we did not observe a significant difference between taxon abundance and covariates. Also, though not significant,�Canthon spp�were marginally more abundant on unburned areas. Samples for 2016 are currently being identified and counted.�