The Atlantic Rainforest has suffered a rapid fragmentation process which has directly affected its biodiversity. The aim of the present study was to inventory of the spider community composition in two Atlantic Rainforest remnants in the state of Bahia, in order to enable a comparison of the abundance, richness and species diversity between the plots. The aim is to contribute towards further studies on the dynamics of the forest remnants. The sampled areas were of distinctive sizes, the Pituaçu Metropolitan Park (PMP) in Salvador with 425 hectares and the Matinha City Park (PMM) in Itapetinga with nine hectares. The spiders were collected using the nocturnal manual collection method in a 30m x 5m transect for an hour, totalling 10 hours of sampling effort. A total of 362 individuals were collected, of which 152 were, belonging to 20 families, and 60 species. Of these, 37 species of 12 families were collected in the PMP and 30 species of 16 families in the PMM. The abundance of the most frequent families (minimum of ten captures) did not differ between the plots (U=46,00; p=0.7959), with a Sorensen similarity index of 82,4%. Also, the estimates of the abundance and richness do not differ between the areas (U=65.000; p=0.2799 and U=20755, p=0.1451, respectively). Nevertheless, the diversity was higher in the PMP (D=8.1922) than the PMM (D=6.8032). The results suggest that the similarities between the areas may be a consequence of factors related to the fragmentation processes, such as disturbance history. However, other factors, such as the shape of the remnants and the type of neighborhood, apart from other variables, eg. the flora composition, may also interfere on the dynamics of the spider's communities in these fragments. Key words: Atlantic Forest, Fragmentation, Biodiversity, Spiders, Bahia.
ResumoA Mata Atlântica vem sofrendo um acelerado processo de fragmentação, o que está afetando sua biodiversidade. O objetivo do trabalho foi inventariar as comunidades de aranhas em dois remanescentes de Mata Atlântica do Estado da Bahia, permitindo uma comparação entre a abundância, riqueza e diversidade de espécies entre estas áreas, visando fornecer subsídios para estudos da dinâmica de fragmentos florestais. Foram amostrados remanescentes com tamanhos bastante distintos, o Parque Metropolitano de Pituaçu -Salvador (PMP) com 425 ha e o Parque Municipal da MatinhaItapetinga (PMM) com nove ha. As aranhas foram capturadas por coleta manual noturna, num transecto de trinta por cinco metros durante uma hora, com esforço total de 10h. Foi coletado um total de 362 indivíduos, distribuídos em 20 famílias, com 152 adultos e 60 espécies, sendo 37 spp. e 12 famílias no PMP e 30 spp. e 16 famílias no PMM. Ao comparar a abundância das famílias mais freqüentes (mínimo de dez capturas) não houve diferenças significativas entre as áreas (U=46,00; p=0,7959), com um índice de similaridade de Sorensen de 82,4%. Quando comparada a riqueza estimada e a abundância de espécies, não houve diferenças significativas entre as duas áre...