Emma V. Willcox

Roller chopping and prescribed burning are treatments frequently applied to many southeastern rangeland systems, including Florida's pine flatwoods. These treatments can improve rangeland condition by reducing the cover of shrubs and promoting the growth of herbaceous species. How- ever, they have the potential to both positively and negatively affect insects, which provide important ecosystem services as pollinators and are a food source for numerous rangeland-associated avian species, some of which are of conservation concern. We compared total insect familial richness and relative...

In recent years, Florida's pine flatwoods, which provide habitat for numerous Lepidopteran species (butterflies and moths), have exhibited considerable declines in quantity and quality. These declines are primarily attributed to changes in historic fire regimes which have resulted in excessive shrub growth and loss of herbaceous vegetation. Prescribed burning and roller chopping are being promoted as a means to improve these areas of degraded pine flatwoods. However, impacts of these practices on pine flatwoods-associated Lepidopterans, many of which are important herbivores and...