Slow science' approaches to understanding the ecology, natural history and demography of species have declined over recent decades, despite the critical importance of these studies to conservation biology. With the progression of the Anthropocene, populations of invertebrates are under increasing pressure across the globe, yet few longterm datasets exist to track potential changes or declines. Here, we present a newly developed 'slow science' study system, to understand the demography, biology and molecular ecology of a potentially threatened species of giant idiopid trapdoor spider from inland eastern Australia. This previously undescribed species in the tribe Euoplini, here newly described as Euoplos grandis Wilson & Rix sp. nov., has a highly fragmented distribution in the southern Brigalow Belt bioregion of south-eastern Queensland, in a landscape largely cleared for cropped agriculture. The conservation significance of Idiopidae has long been recognised, and these spiders remain a flagship group for terrestrial invertebrate conservation in Australia. By studying growth rates, life spans, recruitment, natural history, fitness, gene flow, dispersal and other aspects of population and individual health, we aim gradually to uncover the population dynamics of a discrete natural population. In this paper, we summarise longitudinal data for 69 individual trapdoor spiders following an initial 18 months of study, and highlight preliminary demographic trends, biological observations and avenues for future genetic research. Ultimately, the aim of this study is to provide a baseline dataset for the conservation of Australian Idiopidae, and a guiding case study for similar taxa elsewhere in Australia.
‘Slow science’ approaches to generating authoritative longitudinal datasets for long‐term monitoring are fundamental to conservation biology. Following reports of significant arthropod declines worldwide, and recent climate‐driven disasters such as the devastating ‘Black Summer’ bushfires of 2019–2020, there has been a renewed focus on invertebrate conservation in Australia and further calls for informative baseline datasets with which to understand increasingly rapid biotic change. Trapdoor spiders of the infraorder Mygalomorphae, in particular, have been the subject of decades of research highlighting their sensitivity to environmental change and their special significance to conservation biology. In 2019, the senior author and collaborators introduced within this journal a new long‐term monitoring study system for an Australian mygalomorph spider (Euoplos grandis Wilson & Rix, 2019; family Idiopidae), then in its infancy with just 18 months of quantitative demographic data. In the current study, we extend and build upon that work and provide a synthesis of demographic information accumulated over half a decade, resulting in 166 collective years' worth of times‐series data from 101 individual spiders. We infer an estimated average cumulative growth curve for the species based on census data from 77 spiders, with evidence for a 7+‐year juvenile female growth period and a potential life span for adult females of over 20 years. Passive surveillance using a camera trap deployed at the study site for 8 months resulted in significant advances in our understanding of the biology and behaviour of E. grandis, with a suite of behaviours observed for the first time, including rarely documented interactions with conspecifics, potential predators and prey. We further summarise the results of maximum entropy potential habitat modelling as informed by extensive on‐ground surveys and a refined taxonomy, and provide an updated conservation assessment using the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria. These results reveal that E. grandis is a Vulnerable threatened species endemic to the highly fragmented southern Brigalow Belt bioregion, with population dynamics and life history characteristics that underscore the considerable sensitivity of Australian idiopid trapdoor spiders to a multitude of threatening processes.
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