Data from: Prescribed fire affects arthropod occupancy of wood cavities in a temperate deciduous forest

Prescribed fire is an important management tool that affects the
availability and quality of resources for arthropods in temperate
deciduous forests. We quantified occupancy of wood cavities by arthropods
within burned and unburned portions of a temperate deciduous forest in the
eastern United States.  We placed 400 wood blocks (4.0 x 4.5 x 25
cm) on the forest floor at each site.  Each block had either one
10mm diameter cavity or two 5mm diameter cavities drilled 8 cm deep into
its ends.  We collected the contents of the cavities over a
5-month period immediately following the burn and again two years
post-burn. Arthropod occupancy was higher in the burned site (37% ± 4%)
vs. the unburned site (17% ± 3%) immediately following the fire, but
converged on similar frequency after two years (26% ± 3% and 28% ± 3%,
respectively). Ants, spiders, and the cockroach Parcoblatta
pennsylvanica (De Geer, 1773) were the most common cavity occupants. There
was a tendency for ants and spiders to inhabit either small (5mm) or large
(10mm) cavities, respectively; bees and wasps collectively occupied both
diameters with similar frequency. The results of this study
suggest that prescribed fire enhances occupancy of wood cavities by
arthropods over the short term, perhaps by reducing the availability of
natural cavities.  Understanding the effects of fire on the
ecology of forest arthropods is essential for biodiversity conservation.