Coexistence in a Guild of Wandering Spidersстатья из журнала
Аннотация: The spider fauna of soil and litter may be separated into several distinct groups, based on the methods used in prey capture. Balogh & Loksa (1948) divided spiders into three groups: web spinners, cursorial forms and saltatorial forms. They called these groups syntrophia (after Balogh 1946), groups of organisms exploiting similar resources in the same way. In recent ecological literature, the term 'guild' has been applied to such groups (Root 1973). Cursorial, or wandering spiders constitute a guild in that they are all non-specific predators of arthropods (and thus exploit a single resource or similar resources) and are all hunting spiders (exploiting resources in a similar manner). These spiders are known to move through the litter and run down or pounce on prey when they are encountered (Turnbull 1973). They spin no webs, but may inhabit permanent or temporary retreats or burrows. This guild includes the families Clubionidae, Gnaphosidae, Lycosidae, Pisauridae, Thomisidae, and some representatives of the Agelenidae and Hahniidae (Breymeyer 1966). Members of most of these families are similar in general morphological features, mode of prey capture and size. The crab spider species (Thomisidae) in this study are different from those of other families morphologically (the first two pairs of legs are laterograde rather than prograde), but forage in a similar way. As many as thirty to fifty species of wandering spiders may be found in a single forest, and there appears to be a high degree of similarity of species composition over many areas (Cannon 1965; Peck 1966). The wandering spider guild may constitute upwards of 43/o of grounddwelling spider species in a forest (Drew 1967), and accounts for a majority of the spider biomass (Moulder & Reichle 1972). Recently, Enders (1975, 1976) has raised some questions about co-existence and limiting similarity of closely related spider species. He has shown that spiders employing different foraging strategies rely on different means of reducing competition to coexist. As part of an investigation of leaf litter spider communities (Uetz 1975), the spatial and seasonal distribution of foraging activity in the wandering spider guild was studied by pitfall trapping. The ten species studied include three pairs of congeners and groups of similar size, providing an opportunity to examine the role of spatial and temporal stratification and body size differences in allowing coexistence of species.
Год издания: 1977
Авторы: George W. Uetz
Издательство: Wiley
Источник: Journal of Animal Ecology
Ключевые слова: Spider Taxonomy and Behavior Studies, Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior, Genetic diversity and population structure
Открытый доступ: closed
Том: 46
Выпуск: 2
Страницы: 531–531