Life Sciences Commons^™

Spider Community Organization : Seasonal Variation And The Role Of Vegetation Architecture, Cynthia L. Hatley, James A. Macmahon

Green Canyon Environmental Research Area, Logan Utah

The relationship between vegetation architecture and spider community attributes were examined in a big sage community. Spiders were separated into guilds using similarities of species' hunting behavior. Shrub architecture was experimentally manipulated in the field by either clippings 50% of the shrub's foliage to decrease foliage density or tying together a shrub's branches to increase foliage density. Shrub perturbations resulted in changes in the number of spider species, spider guilds and guild importance values. The number on spider species and guilds in the tied shrubs were significantly higher than those in the clipped or control shrubs sampled. Spider species diversity …