The effects of prescribed fire severity and time post-burn on beetle assemblages in a temperate deciduous forest

Fire is increasingly used as a management tool in temperate deciduous forests, but the effects of fire on arthropods in these systems remain unclear. Here, we used flight-intercept traps to sample beetle assemblages (Coleoptera) in portions of a temperate deciduous forest of eastern North America subjected to either a higher-severity burn, a lower-severity burn, or no burn. We collected beetles immediately following the burns and for up to two years post-burn. Average (±SE) beetle abundance did not differ between the higher-severity (45 ± 13) and lower-severity (55 ± 26) burns, but was 2x higher in the burned sites vs. the unburned site (25 ± 6). Likewise, traps in the two burned sites captured a similar number of beetle species (17 ± 0.5 and 15 ± 0.5, respectively), and more species than in the unburned site (12 ± 0.4). These patterns were consistent over time post-burn in all sites. Beetle composition also consistently differed between the burned and unburned sites; bark and ambrosia ..., , # Data from: The effects of prescribed fire severity and time post-burn on beetle assemblages in a temperate deciduous forest

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.wdbrv1629](10.5061/dryad.wdbrv1629)

## Description of the data and file structure

The effects of prescribed fire severity and time post-burn on beetle assemblages in a temperate deciduous forest

### Files and variables

#### File: Beetle_Data.csv

**Description:** 

##### Variables

* collection_date: Date at which trap contents were collected (mm/dd/yy)
* collection_year: Calendar year at which trap contents were collected (yyyy)
* burn_date: Date at which the burn took place (mm/dd/yy)
* days_post_burn: Number of days between a collection event and the burn date (days)
* Time_post_burn_years: Number of years between a collection event and a burn (0: year of burn; 1: 1 year post-burn; 2: 2 years post-burn)
* trap_number: Unique trap number assigned to a specific trap for each collection year
* status: Status of forest (burned or u...,