The Effect of Fire on Spatial Distributions of Male Mating Aggregations in Gryllotalpa Major Saussure (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae) at The Nature Conservancy's Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Oklahoma: Evidence of a Fire-dependent Species

Abstract

Abstract The prairie mole cricket (Gryllotalpa major Saussure) is a native of the tallgrass prairie ecosystem of the south central United States. Its populations have dwindled with the reduced availability of suitable grassland habitat. Populations are known to occupy relict prairie sites in Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri. The Nature Conservancy's Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in north central Oklahoma is the largest continuous tract of tallgrass prairie remaining (about 16,100 ha). The long-term management plan for this property includes the utilization of prescribed burns, bison grazing, cattle grazing and limited mowing to restore a functional tallgrass prairie landscape. Prairie mole cricket populations were surveyed at the site during the years 1993, 1994, 1998, and by our research team in 2005, using the male cricket's acoustic call as a discrete presence indicator. Records from these surveys were integrated with prescribed burn maps to identify spatial distribution patterns of the calling agg...