BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

Despite their ecological importance and diversity, spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) are underrepresented in conservation policies in comparison to other groups. We review all extant conservation tools focusing on spiders in Europe, highlighting general patterns, limitations, gaps, and future directions. We assembled a comprehensive online database reporting all available information concerning the legal protection and conservation status of 4,154 spider species. Existing international legislation has limited coverage, with only one species listed in the Bern Convention and EU Habitats Directive. At the national and subnational levels, 178 species are formally mentioned in the legislation of 19 European countries. Moreover, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) includes assessments for 301 species worldwide, 164 of these threatened and eight native to Europe.In addition, spiders are mentioned in Regional Red Lists and Red Books in 28 out of 42 European countries considered in this review. Northern and Central European countries have the highest percentage of species assessed at the regional level in Red Lists and Red Books. The Mediterranean basin has the highest spider diversities in Europe but conservation efforts are lacking, both in terms of assessments and national or subnational legislation. Among European species, Dolomedes plantarius, Argyroneta aquatica and Eresus kollari are the most frequently mentioned in European conservation measures, possibly due to their ecological traits and their strict association with declining habitats.Considering the current threats to spiders in Europe, the protection of large areas of suitable habitat should be considered as the most effective approach to spider conservation.

Fire is an important structuring force for grassland ecosystems. Despite increased incidents of fire in European steppes, their impact on arthropod communities is still poorly studied. We assessed short-term changes in cursorial beetle and spider assemblages after a summer fire in the meadow steppe in Central European Russia. The responses of spider and beetle assemblages to the fire event were different. In the first post-fire year, the same beetle species dominated burnt and unburnt plots, the alpha-diversity of beetle assemblages was similar, and there were no pronounced changes in the proportions of trophic groups. Beetle species richness and activity density increased in the second post-fire year, while that of the spiders decreased. The spider alpha-diversity was lowest in the first postfire year, and the main dominants were pioneer species. In the second year, the differences in spider species composition and activity density diminished. The main conclusion of our study is that the large-scale intensive summer fire caused no profound changes in cursorial beetle and spider assemblages of this steppe plot. Mitigation of the fire effect is explained by the small plot area, its location at the edge of the fire site and the presence of adjacent undisturbed habitats with herbaceous vegetation.Izvleček V strukturiranju travniških ekosistemov je ogenj pomemben dejavnik. Kljub povečanem številu požarov v evropskih stepah, je njihov vpliv na združbe členonožcev slabo raziskan. Preučili smo kratkotrajne spremembe na združbe talnih pajkov in hroščev po poletnih požarih v travniški stepi srednje evropske Rusije. Odzivi pajkov in hroščev na požar so bili različni. V prvem letu po požaru so na pogorelih in nepogorelih ploskvah prevadovale iste vrste hroščev, alfa diverziteta združb hroščev je bila podobna in ni bilo opaznih razlik v trofičnih skupinah. Vrstna pestrost hroščev in število osebkov sta se povečala v drugem letu o požaru, pri pajkih pa sta se zmanjšala. Alfa diverziteta pajkov je bila najnižja prvo leto po požaru in prevladovale so pionirske vrste. Drugo leto so se razlike v vrstni sestavi pajkov in številu osebkov zmanjšale. Glavni zaključek naše raziskave je, da intenzivni velikopovršinski poletni požari v stepi ne povzročijo močnih sprememb v združbah hroščev in pajkov. Zmanjšanje učinka požara razložimo z majhnimi površinami ploskev, njihovim položajem na robu požarišča in prisotnostjo nedotaknjenih površin z zeliščno vegetacijo v bližini.

recently, anthropogenic fires in protected areas have become more frequent. i studied the response of the spider community after an extensive summer fire in the 'striltsivskyi steppe' reserve in eastern ukraine. a total of 117 spider species was found in the pre-fire period, 40 species were registered in the first and 89 species in the third post-fire year. herb-dwelling spiders began to colonize burnt plots in July, when juveniles of the new generation began dispersing. in september, their abundance was similar to that of undisturbed steppe and within three years, the spider assemblages recovered almost completely. Cursorial ground-dwellers in the first post-fire year decreased in species richness and increased in activity density. in the third year, their species diversity and activity density became much higher than in control plots. some xerophilous species benefited from the fire. Litter dwellers are extremely vulnerable. During the three post-fire years, their numbers and diversity did not recover. some rare species with a patchy geographical distribution disappeared from the local fauna. such a reaction of endangered species is the main restriction on the use of fire as a conservation management. the prerequisite for its implementation is maintaining relevant refuges for threatened species. Keywords: endangered species, post-fire recovery, spider assemblage, 'striltsivskyi steppe' reserve, summer fire. Izvlečekantropogeni požari na zavarovanih območjih so v zadnjem času vse bolj pogosti. Proučevala sem odziv združ-be pajkov po ekstenzivnem poletnem požaru v rezervatu 'striltsivskyi steppe' v vzhodni ukrajini. V obdobju pred požarom sem našla 117 vrst pajkov, 40 vrst je bilo zabeleženih v prvem letu, 89 vrst pa v tretjem letu po požaru. Pajki, ki prebivajo na zeliščih, so začeli naseljevati požgane ploskve julija, ko so se začeli razširjati juvenilni osebki nove generacije. septembra je bila njihova abundanca podobna kot v nemoteni stepi in po treh letih se je vrstna sestava pajkov popolnoma obnovila. Vrstna pestrost pajkov, ki prebivajo na tleh, se je v prvem letu po požaru zmanjšala, povečala pa se je njihova aktivna gostota. V tretjem letu sta bili vrstna pestrost in aktivna gostota višji kot na kontrolnih ploskvah. nekatere kserofilne vrste so imele zaradi požara prednost. Vrste, ki jih najdemo v opadu, so izredno ranljive. njihovo število in pestrost se v treh letih po požaru nista obnovila. nekatere redke vrste z zaplatasto geografsko razširjenostjo, so izginile s tega območja. odziv redkih vrst je glavna omejitev za uporabo ognja za naravovarstven način gospodarjenja. Predpogoj za njegovo uporabo je vzpostavitev ustreznih zatočišč (refugijev) za ogrožene vrste. Ključne vrste: ogrožene vrste, obnova po požaru, vrstna sestava pajkov, rezervat 'striltsivskyi steppe', poletni požar.

Being an essential driving factor in dry grassland ecosystems, uncontrolled fires can cause damage to isolated natural areas. We investigated a case of a small-scale mid-summer fire in an abandoned steppe pasture in northeastern Ukraine and focused on the post-fire recovery of arthropod assemblages (mainly spiders and beetles) and vegetation pattern. The living cover of vascular plants recovered in a year, while the cover of mosses and litter remained sparse for four years. The burnt site was colonised by mobile arthropods occurring in surrounding grasslands. The fire had no significant impact on arthropod diversity or abundance, but changed their assemblage structure, namely dominant complexes and trophic guild ratio. The proportion of phytophages reduced, while that of omnivores increased. The fire destroyed the variety of the arthropod assemblages created by the patchiness of vegetation cover. In the post-fire stage they were more similar to each other than at the burnt plot in the pre- and post-fire period. Spider assemblages tended to recover their pre-fire state, while beetle assemblages retained significant differences during the entire study period.