Diversity and assemblage filtering in ground-dwelling spiders (Araneae) along an urbanisation gradient in Denmark
We studied the effects on spiders of a three-step rural-urban urbanisation gradient near a Danish town embedded in a historically forested landscape. Using pitfall traps set in forested habitat patches, we collected a total of 3075 adult spiders of 80 species; the habitats under different degrees of...
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Published in | Urban ecosystems Vol. 22; no. 2; pp. 345 - 353 |
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Main Authors | , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
New York
Springer US
01.04.2019
Springer Nature B.V |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | We studied the effects on spiders of a three-step rural-urban urbanisation gradient near a Danish town embedded in a historically forested landscape. Using pitfall traps set in forested habitat patches, we collected a total of 3075 adult spiders of 80 species; the habitats under different degrees of urbanisation had 45–47 species. We found support for Gray’s Increasing Disturbance Hypothesis: the species richness trap
−1
was significantly higher in the rural habitat than in any other one, and decreased from the rural forest to forest fragments dominated by non-native trees in the urban park. The number of forest specialist species also decreased along the urbanisation gradient. Neither the presence of generalists nor light-preferring species increased under more urbanised conditions, but web builders and hygrophilous species were more species-rich in the rural habitat than elsewhere. Using indicator values, we identified
Coelotes atropos
,
Walckenaeria corniculans
,
Walckenaeria cucullata
, and
Pachygnatha listeri
as species linked to the rural and suburban habitats;
Trochosa terricola
,
Saaristoa abnormis
,
Robertus lividus
as characteristic of the rural habitat; and
Gongylidium rufipes
and
Diplocephalus latifrons
as urban habitat specialists. |
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ISSN: | 1083-8155 1573-1642 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s11252-018-0819-x |