Habitat and Season in Structuring Ground-Dwelling Spider (Araneae) Communities in a Shortgrass Steppe Ecosystem

Weeks, Ronald D.; Holtzer, Thomas O.

doi:10.1603/0046-225x-29.6.1164

Cited by 60 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Consistent among habitats and locations in our study was the high relative abundance of immature-stage individuals, which generally cannot be assigned to a species, but can be a large part of spider biomass in a given area (Weeks and Holtzer, 2000), creating difficulties in assessing richness and turnover (Norris, 1999;Jimenez-Valverde and Lobo, 2006). Immature stages were included in the lists of dominant taxa for each habitat type (table 3A-C) to show their importance in relative abundance, but were excluded from the MDS to clarify habitat associations (an MDS including immature stages did not alter the overall patterns; data not shown).…”

Section: Refuge) and Finally To The Southern Colorado Plateau (Band)mentioning

confidence: 61%

“…While these habitats appear very different to people, they may provide some common features, such as cover and soil moisture, which are likely important from the spiders' point of view. In a Colorado grassland and mixed-grass/shrub landscape, Weeks and Holtzer (2000) found virtually no species overlap among species of Lycosidae or Gnaphosidae between the two habitats. Though the area is described broadly as shortgrass steppe, the two habitats were very different in the amount of ground cover (much less in the grass/shrub habitat), which probably influenced the microhabitat tolerances and mobility of the spiders.…”

Section: Refuge) and Finally To The Southern Colorado Plateau (Band)mentioning

confidence: 83%

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Proceedings of the 12th Biennial Conference of research on the Colorado Plateau

Sanderlin¹,

Block²,

Strohmeyer³

2016

Scientific Investigations Report

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For more information on the USGS-the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment-visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1-888-ASK-USGS.For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod/.Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner. The Colorado Plateau is a physiographic region that encompasses 330,000 square kilometers in parts of four states in the southwestern United States (Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona). Known for its high deserts, the Colorado Plateau also includes isolated mountains, high plateaus, and rugged canyons. Not only is the region topographically diverse, but geologically, biologically, and culturally diverse as well. The landscape is managed by Federal entities including the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Forest Service; Tribal nations including the Navajo Nation, Kaibab Paiute, Mountain Ute, Southern Ute, Hopi, Zuni, Hualapai, Havasupai, and White Mountain Apache Tribes; State land and wildlife management agencies; and privately owned holdings, creating complex interactions and management challenges ( fig. 1). Population growth, increased tourism to Federal and State lands, and energy development have increased water demands and altered land-use patterns, and these changes have emerged as management challenges facing the people working and living in the region. Climate change, particularly the ongoing drought, has exacerbated the effects of population growth, land-use change, and other stressors such as invasive species. As managers seek solutions to the challenges facing the region's natural and cultural resources, the Biennial Conference of Science and Management of the Colorado Plateau has become an important venue for exchanging information about emerging management concerns and recent scientific research. Each biennial conference has sought to promote discussion, information sharing, and productive communication among the managers, scientists, students, administrators, tribal representatives, and others who attend the conference with the goal of enhancing the use of the best available science to manage the region's incomparable natural and cultural resources.The publication and dissemination of a conference proceedings series expands the reach of the conference beyond those people in attendance and creates a record on the research presented. The idea of producing a conference proceedings, and its subsequent publication, first occurred in 1993 following the first biennial conference in 1991. A published volume of contributed papers has followed each subsequent biennial conference, including this volume....

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Section: Refuge) and Finally To The Southern Colorado Plateau (Band)mentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Refuge) and Finally To The Southern Colorado Plateau (Band)mentioning

confidence: 83%

Proceedings of the 12th Biennial Conference of research on the Colorado Plateau

Sanderlin¹,

Block²,

Strohmeyer³

2016

Scientific Investigations Report

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Similarly, the Gnaphosidae and Lycosidae families represented over 85% of the spider fauna collected from pitfalls in a shortgrass steppe ecosystem in Weld County, CO, close to the Briggsdale site for this study (Weeks and Holtzer 2000). Five families contained 61% of the species identiÞed in a Þeld crop survey of spiders in North America (Young and Edwards 1990).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Spider Fauna of Semiarid Eastern Colorado Agroecosystems: Diversity, Abundance, and Effects of Crop Intensification

Kerzicnik¹,

Peairs²,

Cushing³

et al. 2013

Environ Entomol

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Spiders are critical predators in agroecosystems. Crop management practices can influence predator density and diversity, which, in turn, can influence pest management strategies. Crop intensification is a sustainable agricultural technique that can enhance crop production although optimizing soil moisture. To date, there is no information on how crop intensification affects natural enemy populations, particularly spiders. This study had two objectives: to characterize the abundance and diversity of spiders in eastern Colorado agroecosystems, and to test the hypothesis that spider diversity and density would be higher in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in crop-intensified rotations compared with wheat in conventional rotations. We collected spiders through pitfall, vacuum, and lookdown sampling from 2002 to 2007 to test these objectives. Over 11,000 spiders in 19 families from 119 species were captured from all sampling techniques. Interestingly, the hunting spider guild represented 89% of the spider fauna captured from all sites with the families Gnaphosidae and Lycosidae representing 75% of these spiders. Compared with European agroecosystems, these agroecosystems had greater diversity, which can be beneficial for the biological control of pests. Overall, spider densities were low in these semiarid cropping systems, and crop intensification effects on spider densities were not evident at this scale.

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“…Our hypothesis is that habitat separation is a critical factor that permits coexistence. Earlier studies demonstrated that the highest numbers of spider species are found in areas of greatest structural variation, combined with high floristic richness (Duffey, 1962;Gertsch & Riechert, 1976) and that habitat and microhabitat separation are important in shaping the community structure of spiders (Uetz, 1979;Robinson, 1981;Weeks & Holtzer, 2000;Whitmore et al, 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat separation in a species‐rich assemblage of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) in a suburban study site in Zimbabwe

Cumming¹,

Wesołowska

2004

Journal of Zoology

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A 40-species assemblage of jumping spiders inhabiting a small (0.6 ha) tropical suburban study site in Zimbabwe was studied over 4 years. It was hypothesized that marked habitat separation is one of the critical factors permitting the close coexistence of so many species from the same family (Salticidae). The 25 most common salticids (i.e. species with 10 or more records) were found to occupy six primary habitat types: tree trunks (with three salticid species), tree leaves (two species), shrubs (five species), walls (three species), low herbaceous plants and grasses (three species) and ground and litter (six species). The remaining three species, termed habitat generalists, frequented three or more of these habitats. Finer-scale microhabitat separation was also recorded in many species. The remaining 15 less common species (i.e. < 10 records) could not be assigned to particular habitats with certainty. Twenty-one (84%) of the 25 common salticids showed a significant association with a single primary habitat type. Three-quarters of species were present for 3 or 4 years of this 4-year study. It was concluded that the narrow spatial niches occupied by most species, combined with the numerous microhabitats within the site, were conducive to the highly diverse salticid assemblage. Attention is drawn to the problems of long-term sampling of such a small area without undue disturbance to the fauna. The impacts of long-term weather cycles on habitats, ephemeral niches, age-dependent use of habitats, inter-and intraspecific associations of individuals within habitats, and the relationship between suburban and wild habitats are discussed. Suburban environments, by providing a wide range of microhabitats, can support a high diversity of salticid species and thus contribute to their conservation.

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Habitat and Season in Structuring Ground-Dwelling Spider (Araneae) Communities in a Shortgrass Steppe Ecosystem

Cited by 60 publications

References 31 publications

Proceedings of the 12th Biennial Conference of research on the Colorado Plateau

Proceedings of the 12th Biennial Conference of research on the Colorado Plateau

Spider Fauna of Semiarid Eastern Colorado Agroecosystems: Diversity, Abundance, and Effects of Crop Intensification

Habitat separation in a species‐rich assemblage of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) in a suburban study site in Zimbabwe

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