Diversity metrics of spider communities associated with an understorey plant in tropical rain forest fragments

Abstract

Human activities change the biodiversity of ecological communities in at least three dimensions: ecologically, taxonomically and functionally. Gathering information on these three dimensions allows the improvement of biodiversity assessments and the increased understanding of anthropogenic impact on natural communities. In this study, we analysed the spider community associated with the tropical plant Heliconia aurantiaca in two contrasting habitat types: continuous forest and forest fragments in south-eastern Mexico. We examined the foliage, stems and bracts of H. aurantiaca individuals in both habitats. We categorized each spider species according to its behavioural and functional traits. We analysed ecological diversity using Hill numbers, taxonomic distinctness and functional diversity using the FRic index. Overall, we collected a total of 110 spiders, of which 44 individuals from 29 species were found in continuous forests, with 66 individuals from 36 species in forest fragments. We found greater ecological diversity in continuous forest than in fragments. In contrast, we found lower functional diversity in continuous forest than in fragments. Taxonomic diversity showed no significant difference between habitats. Forest fragmentation affected the biodiversity of spiders by disrupting species composition and function, which may lead to other ecological changes such as predator–prey interactions and other aspects of ecosystem functioning.

Changes in diversity and community assembly of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) after rainforest conversion to rubber and oil palm plantations

“…Their predatory function and efficacy in pest control is particularly high in the tropics (Michalko et al, 2019). However, rainforest conversion may threaten these services, as re-colonization of disturbed areas likely depends on natural rainforest as a source of high spider richness (Benítez-Malvido, Martínez-Falcón & Durán-Barrón, 2020;Floren & Deeleman-Reinhold, 2005). Recently, it has been demonstrated that the complexity of ground-spider communities decreases following rainforest conversion to rubber and oil palm plantations (Potapov et al, 2020).…”

Spider diversity (Arachnida; Araneae) in different plantations of Western Ghats, Wayanad region, India

“…Hence, the structure of the vegetation is expected to influence the diversity of spiders found in the coffee plantation. Many other studies have also demonstrated that there exists a definite correlation between structural complexity of habitat and spider species diversity (Uetz 1979;Rosenzweig 1995;Rendon et al 2006;Rodriguez et al 2015;Malvido et al 2020).…”

Comparisons of the composition of spider assemblages in three vegetation habitats in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia

“…Furthermore, vegetation architecture plays an important role in spider composition in structurally complicated habitats and vegetations, with the ability to sustain a higher spider abundance and diversity. Consequently, enhancing understory vegetation complexity in oil palm plantations potentially increases spider abundance and diversity (Stokmane and Spungis 2016;Ashton-Butt et al 2018;Spear et al 2018;Romero et al 2019;Benitez-Malvido et al 2020;Hood et al 2020;Luke et al 2020;Pashkevich et al 2020).…”