Post-fire succession of collembolan communities in a northern hardwood forest

Forest fire intensity can impact the survival and recovery of soil fauna at local scales. We compared three contiguous sites differing in fire history to explore post-fire succession of collembolan (Hexapoda: Apterygota) communities in a maple-oak forest in southern Québec, Canada. We found a total of 22 collembolan species from 8 families and 17 genera at sites burned 0, ∼50, and ∼100 years in the past; samples from the most recent fire were collected in both lightly and intensely burned patches. Shifts in community composition were significantly related to time since a fire disturbance, burn intensity, and consumption of litter and organic soil horizons during recent fire events. Using a trait-based approach we demonstrate that species that remain following high-intensity fire are smaller-bodied than species in unburned areas. Additional character states (eyeless, unpigmented) suggest these species are endogeaic versus epigeaic, and that litter loss associated with high-intensity fire is the main driver of collembolan community compositional changes. We suggest that understanding Collembola community dynamics in response to a fire disturbance will require a better understanding of the spatial configuration of remnant habitat patches within heterogeneous burn sites, and patterns of collembolan dispersal and recolonization in three dimensional space.