The Effect of Fire on the Ant Assemblage at Fults Hill Prairie Nature Preserve, Monroe County, Illinoi

A two year study was conducted at Fults Hill Prairie Nature Preserve in Monroe County, Illinois. The nature preserve is 215 hectares that consists of upland forests, limestone glades, and hill prairies. The purpose of the study was to determine if burn frequency and burn application had an effect on the resident formicid assemblage.;A total of 31 ant species were collected over the two year study period. Twenty-one of these species were considered to have a greater affinity for hill prairie habitat. The abundances of these 21 species were used in the statistical analysis for determining if there were differences between hill prairies based on burn histories (i.e., data collected in 2010) and between burned and unburned hill prairies (i.e., data collected in 2011). Analysis indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between treatments for burn frequency or burn application.