Initial Responses of Dung Beetle Communities to Bison Reintroduction in Restored and Remnant Tallgrass Prairie

Barber, Nicholas A.; Hosler, Sheryl C.; Whiston, Peyton I.; Jones, Holly P.

doi:10.3375/043.039.0405

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…The Nature Conservancy's Nachusa Grasslands (https://www.nachusagrasslands.org/), a large‐scale tallgrass prairie restoration in northern Illinois, serves as a laboratory for investigations of created‐habitat restoration‐related processes (Willand et al ; Hansen & Gibson ; Wodika et al ; Wodika & Baer ; Griffin et al ; Klopf et al ; Barber et al 2017 a , 2017 b , in press; Burke et al ). Among Nachusa Grasslands attributes is that it provides a chronosequence of restoration units dating from 1988 to the present.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of grassland snakes to tallgrass prairie restoration

King

Vanek

2020

Restoration Ecology

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Understanding faunal responses to habitat restoration is important in assessing restoration success. We investigated occupancy and abundance of snakes at Nachusa Grasslands, a large-scale grassland restoration in the midwestern United States. Using artificial cover objects, we sampled within a chronosequence of 12 units converted from row-crop agriculture 2-25 years before the start of our study. Recaptures of marked snakes revealed that movement distances differed among species in accordance with differences in body size, being least in Dekay's Brownsnakes, intermediate in the Plains Gartersnakes and Common Gartersnakes, and greatest in Eastern Foxsnakes. Consistent with this result, occupancy increased with restoration age in Dekay's Brownsnakes but was unrelated to restoration age in the three larger, more mobile species. Similarly, abundance increased with restoration age in Dekay's Brownsnake but was unrelated to restoration age in other species. The Smooth Greensnake, another small-bodied snake with limited mobility, and an Illinois species of greatest conservation need, was not detected at Nachusa Grasslands. Given detection probabilities observed during a parallel study at a nearby large grassland-dominated preserve, we infer that the Smooth Greensnake is truly absent from Nachusa Grasslands. Taken together, our results demonstrate that establishment of faunal components following restoration may be time-dependent with more sedentary species colonizing only slowly (e.g. Dekay's Brownsnakes) or not at all (e.g. Smooth Greensnakes). These results emphasize the need to clearly identify faunal restoration goals and the means to achieve them. Implications for Practice• As higher order predators within grassland ecosystems, snakes provide a meaningful faunal component by which to measure restoration success.• Larger, more mobile snake species are able to occupy grassland restorations soon after conversion from rowcrop agriculture but occupancy by smaller, less mobile species may occur more slowly if at all.• Some grassland snakes may require active management to promote establishment following restoration.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of grassland snakes to tallgrass prairie restoration

King

Vanek

2020

Restoration Ecology

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“…This research was part of the ReFuGE (Restoring Function in Grassland Ecosystems) project (Barber et al ., 2019a,b), in which 15 tallgrass prairie restorations and two remnants were identified for detailed monitoring of organismal groups from multiple trophic levels. Restored sites vary in age (3–31 years since reseeding) and presence of reintroduced bison ( Bison bison ) (Table 1).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This baiting arrangement was employed because the pitfall traps were simultaneously in use to sample ground beetles (Carabidae) and other ground‐dwelling arthropods. Previous work at the site (Barber et al ., 2019a,b) had shown that a single baited pitfall trap attracted large numbers of dung beetles, and this technique captured hundreds to thousands of beetles at each site across each sampling season. Traps were plastic cups (13 cm height, 9 cm diameter) half‐filled with dilutedpropylene glycol, capped by wire mesh to prevent capture of nontarget vertebrates, and the bait held on a plastic fork suspended over the cup.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dung was partitioned using large plastic syringes into 200 ml pats on square platforms of 2.54cmhardware cloth (openings large enough to permit beetle access) and massed. Control dung pats were contained within screen cages to prevent access by dung beetles and other dung‐associated arthropods (Barber et al ., 2019a,b), representing decomposition effects of microbial activity and weathering (Halffter & Matthews, 1966; Slade et al ., 2007; Kaartinen et al ., 2013; Slade & Roslin, 2016). Five control (caged) and five experimental (uncaged) pats were placed in a 60 m transect (6 m apart) along one edge of each research grid for a total of 10 pats per site.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Management actions shape dung beetle community structure and functional traits in restored tallgrass prairie

Hosler

Jones

Nelson

et al. 2020

Ecological Entomology

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1. Ecosystem restoration often focuses on re-establishing species richness and diversity of native organisms. However, effective restoration requires re-establishment of ecosystem functions and processes by all trophic levels. Functional trait descriptions of communities, including decomposer communities, may provide more comprehensive evaluations of restoration activities and management than taxonomic community metrics alone. 2. We examined species and functional trait composition of dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Geotrupidae) communities across a 3-31 yearchronosequence of restored prairies, in which sites varied in the presence of reintroduced bison and prescribed fire. We calculated functional diversity metrics and community-weighted mean trait values using behavioural and morphological measurements. We also performed a dung decomposition experiment to measure an ecosystem function driven by these insects. 3. Bison presence doubled beetle abundance and increased richness by 50%. Shannon diversity increased with restoration age, nearly doubling from the youngest to oldest restorations. Functional diversity was unchanged by site characteristics, except functional richness, which was reduced by bison and fire presence. Beetles were, on average, smaller in older restorations, although this pattern was weaker when bison were present. 4. Dung decomposition was unaffected by site characteristics but increased with community weighted mean beetle mass. Dung decomposition was better predicted by mean trait values, suggesting that supporting large-bodied species may be more important than species diversity in settings where maximizing decomposition function is a goal. 5. Restoration managers should consider dung beetle communities and their functional characteristics when making management decisions, particularly where large grazers are a component of management strategies.

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“…Indeed, one study found that the disturbance created by bison has a positive effect on another group of pollinators, Lepidopterans (Hess et al 2014), yet no studies to our knowledge have investigated the indirect effects of bison on bumble bees. As bison use in grassland restoration and agricultural production increases in North America (Freese et al 2007;Barber et al 2019), an understanding of differences in grazing behaviors and their effects on grassland communities is increasingly important.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Native and agricultural grassland use by stable and declining bumble bees in Midwestern North America

Rosenberger

Conforti

2020

Insect Conserv Diversity

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1. Bumble bees are important pollinators in both natural and anthropogenic systems. In recent years, some species have suffered declines, including in the American Midwest. While loss of floral resources and grassland habitat may contribute to these declines, little is known about how native versus agricultural grasslands affect bumble bee populations. 2. We conducted 3 years of bumble bee population and floral use surveys across restored tallgrass prairie, bison pasture, and cattle pasture in Northern Illinois. 3. We found 1.75-3.5 times more bumble bees in native plant dominant tallgrass prairie than in exotic-dominant pasture sites. In addition, bumble bees were two times more abundant in bison pasture than in cattle pasture. Bumble bee species richness was approximately 1.5-2 times greater in prairie, while richness was comparable in the two pasture sites. Habitat-dependent abundance and richness were driven by individual bumble bee species habitat preferences. 4. Across habitats, native Monarda fistulosa was highly favoured by foraging bumble bees, particularly by the regionally declining B. auricomus. In the absence of native species, exotic Trifolium pratense and Daucus carota were important forage sources in pastures. 5. These results indicate that grassland management practises to shift grassland plant communities towards native-dominant over exotic-dominant communities may strengthen bumble bee populations, although these effects will likely be Bombus species-dependent. Our findings highlight the need to understand the impacts of habitat on specific bumble bee species, as this will be critical in developing conservation plans for declining populations now and in the future.

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Initial Responses of Dung Beetle Communities to Bison Reintroduction in Restored and Remnant Tallgrass Prairie

Cited by 10 publications

References 64 publications

Responses of grassland snakes to tallgrass prairie restoration

Responses of grassland snakes to tallgrass prairie restoration

Management actions shape dung beetle community structure and functional traits in restored tallgrass prairie

Native and agricultural grassland use by stable and declining bumble bees in Midwestern North America

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