South African National Survey of Arachnida: A checklist of the spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) of the Tswalu Kalahari Reserve in the Northern Cape province, South Africa

Abstract

One of the aims of South African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA) is to survey protected areas to obtain species-specific information and compile inventories to determine species distribution patterns and evaluate their conservation status for Red Data assessments. The aim of this study, the first in a series of surveys of the Diamond Route Reserves, was to compile the first checklist of the spider species in the Northern Cape at the Tswalu Kalahari Reserve. Spiders were collected during three survey periods (2005−2013) using different collecting methods to sample both the ground and field layers. In total, 32 families represented by 108 genera and 136 species have been collected so far. The most species-rich families are the Salticidae (20 spp.) and Thomisidae (18 spp.), followed by the Gnaphosidae and Araneidae (11 spp. each), while nine families are represented by singletons. The free-living wandering spiders represent 97 spp., while 39 spp. are web-builders. Information on spider guilds, endemicity value and conservation status are provided. The Tswalu Kalahari Reserve protects approximately 6.1% of the total South African spider fauna, while 24.3% of the species found in the reserve are South African endemics, of which 5.9% are Northern Cape endemics. Approximately 6.0% of the species sampled are possibly new to science or represent new records for South Africa.Conservation implications: The Tswalu Kalahari Reserve falls within the Savanna Biome in the Northern Cape province. Only one spider species was previously known from the reserve; a further 135 spp. are reported for the first time, with 5.9% of the species being Northern Cape endemics and 24.3% South African endemics. Approximately 6.0% of the species may be new to science or represent new records for South Africa.

Plant‐eating carnivores: Multispecies analysis on factors influencing the frequency of plant occurrence in obligate carnivores

“…( 2004 ) also found Kalahari sour grass ( Schmidtia kalihariensis ) in 38.8% of caracal scat. This is the dominant species in the Kalahari Desert, which only grows for a short period after sufficient rainfall (Dippenaar‐Schoeman et al., 2018 ), has a distinctive odor, and has glands that secrete acidic substances (Dippenaar‐Schoeman et al., 2018 ). Caracals may eat this plant to ingest these compounds possibly for self‐medication (Hart & Hart, 2018 ; Huffman, 2003 ) or for pH control in the digestive tract (Kerr et al., 2013 ), although it is unclear whether these compounds have a beneficial effect.…”

Assembling a DNA barcode reference library for the spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Pakistan

“…For example, the analysis of 80 species of Salticidae from Papua New Guinea revealed 34 species and five genera new to the country [78]. Likewise, 6% of the 136 spider species recovered from the Northern Cape Province, South Africa were new [79]. This study employed a mix of methods for spider collection, including beating, sweeping, and pitfalls.…”

Mountains and their ecotones increase landscape heterogeneity and maintain a unique assemblage of grasshoppers in the southern Kalahari

“…The southern Kalahari is known as a region of high diversity and endemism (Davids et al, 2010;Dippenaar-Scoeman et al, 2018;Moritz et al, 2008;van Noort et al, 2021), but is relatively under-sampled in terms of grasshopper diversity. Previously, Barker (1983Barker ( , 1984 found 35 species of grasshoppers in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, a much larger reserve to the north of TKR.…”

“…Floral and faunal biodiversity in the Kalahari is exceptionally high, especially considering the area receives less than 400 mm annual precipitation on average, and lies on sandy soils with a high rate of water and nutrient leaching (Abraham et al, 2021;Tokura et al, 2018). For example, in the Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, a 111,000 ha protected area in the Northern Cape, some 70 species of beetle, and 136 species of spider, have been identified (Davids et al, 2010;Dippenaar-Scoeman et al, 2018), with additional work on hymenopteran species distributions and densities having been conducted (Moritz et al, 2008;van Noort et al, 2021). Little is known about orthopteran diversity in the region, aside from initial surveys conducted in the former Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, now the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (KTP), that indicated sparse populations of some 35 grasshopper species (Barker, 1983(Barker, , 1984.…”