SPIDER ASSEMBLAGE STRUCTURE AND STABILITY IN A HETEROGENEOUS COASTAL DUNE SYSTEM (BELGIUM)

By D. Bonte, L. Baert, J. Maelfait. 2002

124 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract An analysis of the spider assemblage structure and the presence of indicator species in the Flemish coastal dunes are presented. The analysis is based on data from more than 170 year-round pitfall sampling campaigns from the 1970s onwards. We were able to find indicator species for all identified habitats. The assemblages are determined by variation in vegetation structure (succession), atmospheric and soil humidity and the occurrence of both natural of anthropogenic disturbance. In the fragmented habitats (grasslands and grey dunes), a clear relationship was found between the mean habitat size and the stability of the assemblage composition. In moss dominated dunes and short grasslands total species numbers do not increase with patch size. Due to microhabitat variation and the possibility of attaining viable population sizes the total number of typical species is, however, higher in larger patches. In small patches, edge effects are more important and the number of observed species is enlarged by the intrusion of species from nearby habitats.

Subfields: Atmospheric Science, Ecological Modeling, Insect Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/aff5300035ac82aedabe1ef735eca4505189271b

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Atmospheric Science

In Ecological Modeling

In Insect Science

Citations in the corpus

Determinants of local spider (Araneidae and Thomisidae) species richness on a regional scale: climate and altitude vs. habitat structure (2007, background): “…and topographic factors have been highlighted as relevant for spiders: humidity ( Coulson & Butterfield, 1986; Rushton et al. , 1987; Rushton & Eyre, 1992; Bonte et al. , 2002 ), temperature ( Rypstra, 1986 ), and altitude ( Urones & Puerto, 1988; Rushton & Eyre, 1992; Chatzaki et al. , 2005 ).”
Niche properties of Central European spiders : shading, moisture and the evolution of the habitat niche (2007, background): “They are a species-rich group, in which species occurrence is frequently related to factors such as vegetation structure, soil moisture, disturbance and management regime (Rushton & Eyre, 1992; Marc et al ., 1999; Bonte et al. , 2002 ).”