Do spiders respond to global change? A study on the phenology of ballooning spiders in Switzerland

Blandenier, Gilles; Bruggisser, Odile T.; Bersier, Louis‐Félix

doi:10.2980/21-1-3636

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…; Jones and Cresswell ; but see Blandenier et al. ). However, most of the research was observational and has focused on phenological differences between specific predators and their prey.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mismatch in microbial food webs: predators but not prey perform better in their local biotic and abiotic conditions

Parain

Gravel

Rohr

et al. 2016

Ecology and Evolution

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Understanding how trophic levels respond to changes in abiotic and biotic conditions is key for predicting how food webs will react to environmental perturbations. Different trophic levels may respond disproportionately to change, with lower levels more likely to react faster, as they typically consist of smaller‐bodied species with higher reproductive rates. This response could cause a mismatch between trophic levels, in which predators and prey will respond differently to changing abiotic or biotic conditions. This mismatch between trophic levels could result in altered top‐down and bottom‐up control and changes in interaction strength. To determine the possibility of a mismatch, we conducted a reciprocal‐transplant experiment involving Sarracenia purpurea food webs consisting of bacterial communities as prey and a subset of six morphologically similar protozoans as predators. We used a factorial design with four temperatures, four bacteria and protozoan biogeographic origins, replicated four times. This design allowed us to determine how predator and prey dynamics were altered by abiotic (temperature) conditions and biotic (predators paired with prey from either their local or non‐local biogeographic origin) conditions. We found that prey reached higher densities in warmer temperature regardless of their temperature of origin. Conversely, predators achieved higher densities in the temperature condition and with the prey from their origin. These results confirm that predators perform better in abiotic and biotic conditions of their origin while their prey do not. This mismatch between trophic levels may be especially significant under climate change, potentially disrupting ecosystem functioning by disproportionately affecting top‐down and bottom‐up control.

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“…; Jones and Cresswell ; but see Blandenier et al. ). However, most of the research was observational and has focused on phenological differences between specific predators and their prey.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mismatch in microbial food webs: predators but not prey perform better in their local biotic and abiotic conditions

Parain

Gravel

Rohr

et al. 2016

Ecology and Evolution

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“…This result, in addition to the significant difference in spider composition with increasing distances (correlograms), suggested that a limited number of taxa from the species pool could reach the wetlands that were further apart from each other. Ballooning is the most common long‐distance dispersal strategy of spiders (Blandenier et al ., ). However, ballooning strategies (and thus dispersal) are not uniformly distributed among spiders (Jiménez‐Valverde et al ., ; Rodriguez‐Artigas et al ., ; Rao, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…This is because some spiders show a passive and non‐selective dispersal strategy by wind using silk threads, known as ballooning ability (Bell et al ., ). This strategy provides high mobility to spiders and thus allows them to access and occupy new habitats quickly (Blandenier et al ., ). However, the efficiency of this dispersal strategy varies according to species identity and habitat specialisation (Bonte et al ., ; Jiménez‐Valverde et al ., ; Rodriguez‐Artigas et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Drivers of the beta diversity of spider assemblages in southern Brazilian temporary wetlands

Ávila

Pires

Rodrigues

et al. 2019

Ecological Entomology

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1. The composition of local assemblages is assembled by an interplay of species sorting, mass effects and dispersal limitation processes. The contributions of assembly processes to metacommunity structure can change with ecosystem type and specificities of the study area. Spider composition is influenced by environmental features such as habitat structure and climate, and also by spatial distances between patches. However, little is known about the roles of assembly processes in spider metacommunity structure in wetlands.2. The beta diversity patterns of spider assemblages were assessed in 24 temporary wetlands distributed along a latitudinal gradient in southern Brazil. The study also assessed the individual correspondence of beta diversity (and its turnover and richness components) with dissimilarities in habitat structure and climate, as well as with geographic distances, using Mantel and partial Mantel correlation tests and multivariate correlograms.3. Turnover was the most important component of spider beta diversity. Mantel tests detected significant correlations of spider beta diversity with habitat structure. Partial Mantel tests detected significant relationships only between spider beta diversity (and the richness component) and geographic distances. Additionally, spider composition was more similar than chance on smaller scales. 4. These results evidenced a complex interplay of assembly processes explaining spider metacommunity structure in temporary wetlands. Although species-sorting processes associated with habitat structure were important in structuring local spider composition, mass effects and dispersal limitation across climatic zones played an important role on a broader scale.

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“…; Blandenier et al . ), obstacle avoidance may simply be impossible. However, we acknowledge that many obstacles encountered by aerial species appear easily surmountable from our perspective.…”

Section: Fragmented Skies – Applying Paradigms From Terrestrial Ecolomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In discussing aerial habitat fragmentation and aeroconservation with colleagues, we have repeatedly heard the argument that flying wildlife can surely avoid obstacles as large as buildings. For organisms such as ballooning spiders or aerial microorganisms that do not control their aerial trajectory (Womack et al 2010;Blandenier et al 2014), obstacle avoidance may simply be impossible. However, we acknowledge that many obstacles encountered by aerial species appear easily surmountable from our perspective.…”

Section: Fragmented Skies -Applying Paradigms From Terrestrial Ecologmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aeroconservation for the Fragmented Skies

Davy

Ford

Fraser

2017

CONSERVATION LETTERS

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From birds to bacteria, airborne organisms face substantial anthropogenic impacts. The airspace provides essential habitat for thousands of species, some of which spend most of their lives airborne. Despite recent calls to protect the airspace, it continues to be treated as secondary to terrestrial and aquatic habitats in policy and research. Aeroconservation integrates recent advances in aeroecology and habitat connectivity, and recognizes aerial habitats and threats as analogous to their terrestrial and aquatic counterparts. Aerial habitats are poorly represented in the ecological literature and are largely absent from environmental policy, hindering protection of aerial biodiversity. Here, we provide a framework for defining aerial habitats to advance the study of aeroconservation and the protection of the airspace in environmental policy. We illustrate how current habitat definitions explicitly disadvantage aerial species relative to non-aerial species, and review key areas of conflict between aeroconservation and human use of the airspace. Finally, we identify opportunities for research to fill critical knowledge gaps for aeroconservation. For example, aerial habitat fragmentation may impact biodiversity and ecosystem function similarly to terrestrial habitat fragmentation, and we illustrate how this can be investigated by extending existing methods and paradigms from terrestrial conservation biology up into the airspace.

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Do spiders respond to global change? A study on the phenology of ballooning spiders in Switzerland

Cited by 11 publications

References 40 publications

Mismatch in microbial food webs: predators but not prey perform better in their local biotic and abiotic conditions

Mismatch in microbial food webs: predators but not prey perform better in their local biotic and abiotic conditions

Drivers of the beta diversity of spider assemblages in southern Brazilian temporary wetlands

Aeroconservation for the Fragmented Skies

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