Fire and Biodiversity: Studies of Vegetation and Arthropods

Fire is a critical management tool in natural and mature old-field pine uplands of the Coastal Plain in the southeastern United States (cf. Myers 1990, Hermann 1995). During the last 30 years, prescribed bums have gained almost universal acceptance within wildlife and natural resource agencies. However, for much of that time, prescribed bums were used almost exclusively to decrease fuel loads and minimize the threat of wildfire. Bums were almost always prescribed within a time frame limited to the dormant or winter season and with an intensity and/or frequency that did little more than remove leaf litter and grasses. Dormant-season fire was also applied to prune hardwoods and vines in attempts to maintain an open, grassy forest. In recent years, ecologists have encouraged natural resource managers to modify traditional prescribed fire regimes to mimic natural processes or at least recreate their outcome. This is especially true in southern longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forests (cf. Means and Grow 1985, Noss 1989). Land stewards are urged to bum more frequently than in the past and to include growingor