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Ecosystems across the United States are changing in complex and unpredictable ways and v www.esajournals.org 1 May 2021 v Volume 12(5) v Article e03430mussels, and harmful algal blooms. Collectively, these stories highlight the need for long-term studies to sort out the complexities of different types of ecological cascades. The diversity of sites within the LTER network facilitates the emergence of overarching concepts about trophic interactions as an important driver of ecosystem structure, function, services, and futures.

No abstract

Web-building spiders (e.g. Frontinella communis and Neriene radiata) and northern pitcher plants (Sarracenia purpurea) are co-occurring sit-and-wait predators that may compete for shared arthropod prey. We evaluated prey availability and capture rates by web-weaving spiders and pitcher plants in a headwater stream box complex (Harvard Pond) in central Massachusetts. We established 40 plots with spider and pitcher plant removal treatments, and collected arthropod prey captured by open pitcher plants, pitfall traps, and sticky traps in those plots. The removal of web-building spiders significantly changed the distribution of prey captured by the pitcher plants (Chi-square test: P = 2.2 × 10-16 at Harvard Pond). Plugging pitcher plants yielded no difference in prey capture by sticky traps or pitfall traps. In pitcher plants, the total number of Odonata, Diptera, and Hemiptera captured more than doubled when web-weaving spiders were removed from the plots. In pitfall traps in web-weaving spider removal plots, the total number of ants decreased by more than 50%. Hunting spider capture by sticky traps showed moderate increase (P = 0.08) when web-weaving spiders were removed, suggesting an unforeseen interaction between these groups of spiders. The increased predation risk of hunting spiders on ants may explain the marked decrease in ant activity when web-weaving spiders were removed.