Standardised spider (Arachnida, Araneae) inventory of Kilpisjärvi, Finland

Abstract

A spider taxonomy and ecology field course was organised in Kilpisjärvi Biological Station, northern Finland, in July 2019. During the course, four 50 × 50 m plots in mountain birch forest habitat were sampled following a standardised protocol. In addition to teaching and learning about spider identification, behaviour, ecology and sampling, the main aim of the course was to collect comparable data from the Kilpisjärvi area as part of a global project, with the purpose of uncovering global spider diversity patterns. A total of 2613 spiders were collected, of which 892 (34%) were adults. Due to uncertainty of juvenile identification, only adults are included in the data presented in this paper. The observed adult spiders belong to 51 species, 40 genera and 11 families, of which the Linyphiidae were the most rich and abundant with 28 (55%) species and 461 (52%) individuals. Lycosidae had six species and 286 individuals, Gnaphosidae five species and 19 individuals, Thomisidae four species and 24 individuals, Theridiidae two species and 23 individuals. All other six families had one species and less than 40 individuals. The most abundant species were the linyphiid Agnyphantes expunctus (204) and the lycosids Pardosa eiseni (164) and Pardosa hyperborea (107).

Undergraduate entomology field excursions are a valuable source of biodiversity data: a case for spider (Araneae) bycatches in ecological studies

“…In conclusion, this study demonstrated the value of utilizing student groups for sampling arthropods using a standardised protocol to generate biodiversity data, supporting recent studies on spiders (e.g. Cardoso et al 2017;Kiljunen et al 2020;Soukainen et al 2020). The data generated can be utilised to elucidate patterns in biodiversity between different biotopes and sampling years, and also facilitates comparison of the efficacy of different sampling methods by students.…”

“…Data generation for various organismal groups benefits greatly from the involvement of volunteers (Lovell et al 2010;Lewandowski and Specht 2015), citizen scientists (Theobald et al 2015;Chandler et al 2016) or students (e.g. Cardoso et al 2017;Kiljunen et al 2020;Soukainen et al 2020;Supriatna et al 2020) to assist with field sampling. Further, the extraction of nontarget groups as bycatch in surveys can also provide data that is comparable to dedicated surveys of those particular non-target groups (e.g.…”

Optimal inventorying and monitoring of taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversity

“…Also, Cardoso [ 23 ] proposed a method to optimize the inventory of species (TD) (COBRA protocol: Conservation Oriented Biodiversity Rapid Assessment), particularly focusing on mega-diverse groups and using spiders as a case study. This former study demonstrated that it is possible to sample in a standardized, yet optimized way, and the protocol proposed just a decade ago is now being used worldwide [ 24 – 27 ]. Here we extend the concept from inventorying to monitoring and its application from TD to PD and FD.…”