Grassland systems constitute a significant portion of the land area in
the U.S., and as a result, harbor a significant amount of arthropod
diversity. During this time of biodiversity loss around the world,
bioinventories of ecologically important habitats serve as important
indicators for the effectiveness of conservation efforts. We conducted a
bioinventory of the foliar, soil, and dung arthropod communities in 10
cattle pastures located in the southeastern U.S. during the 2018 grazing
season. In sum, 126,251 specimens were collected. From the foliar
community, 13 arthropod orders were observed, with the greatest species
richness found in Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Hemiptera. The soil-dwelling
arthropod community contained 18 orders. The three orders comprising the
highest species richness were Coleoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera.
Lastly, 12 arthropod orders were collected from cattle dung, with the
greatest species richness found in Coleoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera.
Herbivores were the most abundant functional guild found in the foliar
community, and predators were most abundant in the soil and dung
communities. While bioinventories demand considerable time, energy, and
resources to accomplish, the information from these inventories has many
uses for conservation efforts, land management recommendations, and the
direction of climate change science.