Urban patch colonization and species establishment within cities are restricted by the behavioural, life history and physiological attributes of colonizing species, in conjunction with environmental filtering processes at small and large spatial scales. To enhance the local biodiversity in urban greenspaces, these filtering processes need to be assessed so that greenspace design and management can guide establishment of local species pools. We investigated the relative importance of local and landscape‐scale features on spider community assembly using a functional and taxonomic approach. Within the city of Cleveland, Ohio, USA, we established a field experiment wherein control vacant lots, urban meadows, and low‐ and high‐diversity pocket prairies were established across eight neighbourhoods (N = 32). Spiders were sampled during June–August of 2015 and 2016 using pitfall traps and vacuums. Spider functional diversity was assessed using null models, while local and landscape drivers were analysed via canonical partial least squares and clustered image maps. Increased mowing was associated with lower‐than‐expected spider functional alpha and beta diversity in 2015. Patch isolation and percentage impervious surface increased the functional dissimilarity and taxonomic diversity of spiders in 2016, resulting in higher‐than‐expected overall functional alpha diversity. We also found that increasing plant height and biomass favoured spiders with large body size and decreased the abundance of small web weavers. Synthesis and applications. Our findings suggest that increasing the amount of impervious surface in cities will act as a strong environmental filter, producing more spatially distinct spider communities at a landscape scale. Additionally, while periodic mowing in vacant lots benefits some spider taxa, it has a negative impact on the establishment of several species, mainly larger spiders and those most sensitive to disturbance. To conserve spiders and the biota depended upon them, investment in managed greenspaces such as pocket prairies that require infrequent mowing is warranted. In doing so, cities can enhance urban biodiversity and beautify local neighbourhoods.
Urbanization is a key contributor to biodiversity loss, but evidence is mounting that cities can support rich arthropod communities, including rare and threatened species. Furthermore, greenspace is growing within hundreds of "shrinking cities" that have lost population resulting in a need to demolish an overabundance of infrastructure creating vacant land. Efforts are underway to transform vacant lots, often viewed as blighted areas, into habitats that promote biodiversity and generate ecosystem services, such as urban agroecosystems. To understand how reconfiguring these greenspaces might influence species conservation, elucidation of the factors that drive the distribution of an urban species pool is needed. In particular, the importance of species interactions in structuring urban communities is poorly understood. We tested hypotheses that (1) greater breadth of prey captured by web-building spiders and reduced overlap of prey capture among individuals facilitates the conservation of genera richness and abundance and (2) heterogeneity within a greenspace patch facilitates enhanced dietary niche breadth and greater resource partitioning. In 2013 and 2014, the abundance, breadth and degree of overlap in prey capture of sheet web spiders (Linyphiidae) was measured using web mimic traps at 160 microsites (0.25 m 2) situated in four urban vacant lots and four urban farms in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Within a subset of 40 microsites, we used vacuum sampling and hand collection to measure the abundance and genera richness of Linyphiidae. Spider richness and abundance were significantly reduced within urban farms relative to vacant lots. The distribution of spiders and prey was explained by habitat structure, with microsites dominated by tall grasses and flowering plants, with a high bloom abundance and richness, supporting greater prey capture and a higher genera richness and abundance of spiders. In 2014, web capture overlap was significantly greater within microsites dominated by bare ground. These findings illustrate that urban greenspace conservation efforts that focus on reducing bare ground and incorporating a diversity of grasses and flowering plant species can promote linyphiid spiders, potentially by relaxing exploitative competition for shared prey.
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