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Body Size Distribution of Spider Species in Various Forest Habitats

Stańska M., Stański T.

Polish Journal of Ecology

2017

Vol. 65, nr 4

359--370

The body size is one of the main attributes of living organisms. The knowledge of body size patterns of co-occurring species and the related factors can contribute to the understanding of many ecological processes. The aim of the study was the analysis of the distribution of the spider species of different size in heterogeneous forest habitats: ground, herbaceous vegetation, tree trunks and leaves. The research was conducted in deciduous stands of the Białowieża Forest (eastern Poland). Spiders were collected by: a) pitfall traps and sieving the litter through an entomological sieve for the ground layer; b) sweep-netting for herbaceous vegetation; c) bark traps for tree trunks and d) shaking the branches of trees and shrubs for leaves. In total, 247 spider species belonging to 22 families were recorded: 195 species in the ground layer, 122 in herbaceous vegetation, 60 on trunks, and 48 on leaves. The analysis revealed that ground layer was inhabited by the small sized species (mean 5.2 ± 0.11 mm) while larger species inhabited herbaceous vegetation (mean 6.6 ± 0.26 mm), trunks (7.2 ± 0.20 mm) and leaves (6.8 ± 0.41 mm). Moreover, the mean species body size decreased with the increasing number of collected species. Several potential mechanisms are discussed as those determining the preference of various sized spider species in particular habitats like different microclimatic conditions, the nutritional quality of prey and predation. Moreover, the very likely reason of differences in the size of spider species between the ground layer and other habitats is the most complex structure of the former habitat.

Spider Assemblages of Hummocks and Hollows in a Primeval Alder Carr in the Białowieża National Park : Effect of Vegetation Structure and Soil Humidity

Stańska M., Stański T., Gładzka A., Bartos M.

Polish Journal of Ecology

2016

Vol. 64, nr 4

564--577

We studied the species richness, diversity, abundance and guild composition of spider assemblages on the hummocks and in the hollows of the alder carr in the Białowieża National Park. We also assessed the effect of vegetation structure and soil humidity on spiders settled in these two microhabitats. The spiders were collected from 10 May until 27 October 2001 by pitfall trapping. The main factor which differed between the hummocks and the hollows was soil humidity. In the case of vegetation cover we found some differences between the microhabitats but it was particularly evident in the case of litter, which was higher on the hummocks. Spider species diversity was significantly higher on the hummocks than in the hollows, but the number of individuals captured in both microhabitats was similar. The collected spiders belonged to six guilds and the proportion of spider individuals in particular guilds was significantly different between the hummocks and the hollows. The most abundant guild in both microhabitats was ‘ground hunters’ and the most numerous species was Piratula hygrophila. Our analyses showed that soil humidity positively affected the number of spider species and the number of individuals. Sampling date strongly influenced the number of collected species and spider individuals. Vegetation and litter cover did not have a significant impact on the spider assemblages. Our findings suggest that research conducted only on hummocks in the alder carr does not reveal the real structure of spider assemblages.