Effects of urbanization on ground-dwelling spiders in forest patches, in Hungary

Magura, Tibor; Horváth, Roland; Tóthmérész, Béla

doi:10.1007/s10980-009-9445-6

Cited by 104 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…The pattern of decreasing richness and abundance from rural to urban areas is affirmed by many studies on the ecology of plants and several animal taxa, especially invertebrates (McKinney, 2008 and references therein), including spiders (Magura et al, 2010;but Alaruikka et al, 2003). Though richness and abundance decreased from rural to urban areas in our study (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Most studies on the effect of urbanization on arthropods are on carabid beetles and butterflies with fewer on ants, bees, moths and flies (McKinney, 2008 and references therein). Though spiders are dominant components of the arthropod predatory guild (Wise, 1993) and have proved to be good bioindicators of anthropogenic disturbance (Maelfait & Hendrickx, 1998), there are only a few studies on their response to urbanization (Fraser & Frankie, 1986;Miyashita et al, 1998;Alaruikka et al, 2002;Cumming & Wesołowska, 2004;Shochat et al, 2004;Magura et al, 2010). This study focuses on ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae), one of the largest spider families, which mainly includes fastmoving epigean nocturnal hunters, that are best collected using pitfall traps (Chatzaki, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ground spider assemblages (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) along an urban-rural gradient in the city of Heraklion, Greece

Kaltsas¹,

Panayiotou²,

Chatzaki³

et al. 2014

Eur. J. Entomol.

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Abstract. The responses of gnaphosid spiders to an urbanization gradient (urban-suburban-rural areas) were studied using pitfall traps in and near the city of Heraklion, in Crete, Greece, from October 2010 to October 2011. Our results indicate that richness and abundance of species of spiders decreased from the rural area to the center of the city, but not significantly so. Temporal beta diversity was significantly higher in urban areas, which indicates a high temporal variability in species composition of gnaphosid assemblages in the center of the city that takes the form of complementary rather than synchronized phenologies of co-occurring species, as expected in habitats degraded by high levels of disturbance. There was no specific pattern in the body size distribution of the gnaphosids along the urban-rural gradient, and thus the decrease in mean body size with increase in urbanization hypothesis was not supported by our results. However, the species composition recorded in urban areas was very different from that in suburban and rural areas. The percentage of individuals in the catches that were generalist species differed significantly along the gradient. As generalist gnaphosid species made up 72.01% of the total caught in the center of the city, and only 9.53% and 2.07% in suburban and rural areas respectively, our results support the opportunistic species hypothesis. Our analyses indicate that Urozelotes rusticus, a well known synanthropic species recorded for the first time in Greece, is an indicator of high levels of urbanization in Heraklion.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ground spider assemblages (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) along an urban-rural gradient in the city of Heraklion, Greece

Kaltsas¹,

Panayiotou²,

Chatzaki³

et al. 2014

Eur. J. Entomol.

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“…Several studies document that habitat characteristics (such as vegetation complexity, leaf litter depth, number and size of trees, amount of impervious surface) affect abundance, richness, and composition of individual arthropod groups (McKinney 2008;Uno et al 2010). Similarly, landscape-level drivers, such as area of habitat fragments, distance to natural areas, habitat connectivity, and position along the urban to rural gradient, may affect arthropod communities (Rudd et al 2002;Yamaguchi 2004;Pacheco and Vasconcelos 2007;Magura et al 2010). Despite the growth in knowledge of conservation and biodiversity of arthropods in urban ecosystems, there are several areas that deserve further study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local and landscape drivers of arthropod abundance, richness, and trophic composition in urban habitats

et al. 2013

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Urban green spaces, such as forest fragments, vacant lots, and community gardens, are increasingly highlighted as biodiversity refuges and are of growing interest to conservation. At the same time, the burgeoning urban garden movement partially seeks to ameliorate problems of food security. Arthropods link these two issues (conservation and food security) given their abundance, diversity, and role as providers of ecosystem services like pollination and pest control. Many previous studies of urban arthropods focused on a Author's personal copy single taxon (e.g. order or family), and examined either local habitat drivers or effects of landscape characteristics. In contrast, we examined both local and landscape drivers of community patterns, and examined differences in abundance, richness, and trophic structure of arthropod communities in urban forest fragments, vacant lots, and community gardens. We sampled ground-foraging arthropods, collected data on 24 local habitat features (e.g., vegetation, ground cover, concrete), and examined land-cover types within 2 km of 12 study sites in Toledo, Ohio. We found that abundance and richness of urban arthropods differed by habitat type and that richness of ants and spiders, in particular, varied among lots, gardens, and forests. Several local and landscape factors correlated with changes in abundance, richness, and trophic composition of arthropods, and different factors were important for specific arthropod groups. Overwhelmingly, local factors were the predominant (80 % of interactions) driver of arthropods in this urban environment. These results indicate that park managers and gardeners alike may be able to manage forests and gardens to promote biodiversity of desired organisms and potentially improve ecosystem services within the urban landscape.

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“…Moreover, the results of Horváth et al (2014) rejected a negative effect of urbanization on spider richness. However, Magura et al (2010) cautioned about considering only overall diversity as an indicator of disturbance, since the responses of spider species may vary depending on their varied habitat affinities and disturbance tolerances; for example, overall richness may not vary if sensitive species are replaced with more generalist and/or tolerant species. In Debrecen, Hungary, they found that forest species were significantly affected by urbanization, while the populations of other generalist species increased in more disturbed patches.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies on spiders in green urban areas have found that spider abundance and richness increased in more developed areas, where there is more habitat disturbance (Philpott et al 2014, Bolger et al 2000. Magura et al (2010) also found an overall higher richness in urban forest fragments compared to suburban or rural ones, although responses varied when considering species with different habitat affinities. Contrasting with those results, Shochat et al (2004) found a reduction in spider diversity in disturbed areas within the Phoenix (state of Arizona), metropolitan area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Does urbanization have positive or negative effects on Crab spider (Araneae: Thomisidae) diversity?

Argañaraz

Gleiser

2017

Zoologia

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ABSTRACT. Urbanization has a great impact on the diversity of living organisms. Spiders, for example, have been shown to respond negatively (some orb weaving species) and positively (ground dwelling species) to urbanization. The effects of urbanization on crab spiders (Thomisidae) (sit-and-wait predators that generally ambush their prey on flowers and leaves) are not sufficiently known. This paper describes the Thomisidae community that inhabits green patches in a temperate Neotropical city, Cordoba, Argentina, and its surroundings, and ascertains whether there are differences in species richness, abundance and composition between urban and exurban sites. Samples were collected from 30 sites during the summer and spring of 2013 and 2014, using the garden-vacuum method. We compared the abundance, richness and composition of Thomisidae among three habitat categories (urban, suburban and external). Seven species in three genera, Misumenops, Wechselia and Tmarus, were detected. Misumenops was the most abundant genus in Córdoba, and Tmarus elongates Mello-Leitão, 1929 was collected in Argentina for the first time. The abundance, richness and composition of thomisid spiders did not differ between habitat categories, indicating that urbanization does not have a negative effect on the communities of these spiders in open green spaces. Site variability, on the other hand, does, suggesting that local factors may be more relevant than broad-scale factors to explain community patterns in this family.

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Effects of urbanization on ground-dwelling spiders in forest patches, in Hungary

Cited by 104 publications

References 46 publications

Ground spider assemblages (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) along an urban-rural gradient in the city of Heraklion, Greece

Ground spider assemblages (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) along an urban-rural gradient in the city of Heraklion, Greece

Local and landscape drivers of arthropod abundance, richness, and trophic composition in urban habitats

Does urbanization have positive or negative effects on Crab spider (Araneae: Thomisidae) diversity?

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