Activity-density data reveal community structure of Lycosidae at a Mediterranean shrubland

Igor Armiach; Iris Bernstein; Yaya Tang; Tamar Dayan; Efrat Gavish-Regev

doi:10.5431/aramit5204

Activity-density data reveal community structure of Lycosidae at a Mediterranean shrubland

Igor Armiach, Iris Bernstein, Yaya Tang, Tamar Dayan, Efrat Gavish-Regev

National Natural History Collections

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

The structure of an ecological community is shaped by diverse factors and processes, including competition for resources between species with similar ecological niches. Species coexistence in the face of competition is achieved by various mechanisms, such as niche partitioning, e.g. division of resources in space and time. We studied the effect of environmental variables on activity-density of the four lycosid species found in a Mediterranean shrubland in Israel, in the spring of 2012. We tested if spatial and temporal niche partitioning enables coexistence among the four ecologically similar lycosid spiders, using multivariate analyses (RDA, Species Response Curves and Trait Analysis (RLQ)) of vegetation structure, habitat characteristics and land use, as well as time in the season. Activity-density was significantly affected by time in the season and the interaction of time and geophyte density. These findings provide first insights into the life cycles of lycosid species in Mediterranean shrublands in Israel, with spider species of the same size-group reaching their activity peaks at different times.

Original language	American English
Pages (from-to)	16-24
Number of pages	9
Journal	Arachnologische Mitteilungen
Volume	2016
Issue number	52
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5431/aramit5204
State	Published - 1 Sep 2016

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We wish to thank Prof. Yael Lubin and Iris Musli (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev), for discussions, comments and help in identifications. This study was supported by The Israel Taxonomy Initiative (ITI) fellowship to IA, we wish to acknowledge the Israeli ministry of Science, Culture and Sport for supporting the national collections of natural history at Tel Aviv University as a biodiversity, environment and agriculture research knowledge centre. We thank Itay Kahana for help with material sorting and the many people who provided us with additional specimens from throughout Israel.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, Arachnologische Gesellschaft e.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Alopecosa
Coexistence
Hogna
Israel
Lycosa
Niche partitioning
Pardosa
Seasonality
Species assemblage
Wolf spiders

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.5431/aramit5204

Cite this

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abstract = "The structure of an ecological community is shaped by diverse factors and processes, including competition for resources between species with similar ecological niches. Species coexistence in the face of competition is achieved by various mechanisms, such as niche partitioning, e.g. division of resources in space and time. We studied the effect of environmental variables on activity-density of the four lycosid species found in a Mediterranean shrubland in Israel, in the spring of 2012. We tested if spatial and temporal niche partitioning enables coexistence among the four ecologically similar lycosid spiders, using multivariate analyses (RDA, Species Response Curves and Trait Analysis (RLQ)) of vegetation structure, habitat characteristics and land use, as well as time in the season. Activity-density was significantly affected by time in the season and the interaction of time and geophyte density. These findings provide first insights into the life cycles of lycosid species in Mediterranean shrublands in Israel, with spider species of the same size-group reaching their activity peaks at different times.",

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author = "Igor Armiach and Iris Bernstein and Yaya Tang and Tamar Dayan and Efrat Gavish-Regev",

note = "Funding Information: We wish to thank Prof. Yael Lubin and Iris Musli (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev), for discussions, comments and help in identifications. This study was supported by The Israel Taxonomy Initiative (ITI) fellowship to IA, we wish to acknowledge the Israeli ministry of Science, Culture and Sport for supporting the national collections of natural history at Tel Aviv University as a biodiversity, environment and agriculture research knowledge centre. We thank Itay Kahana for help with material sorting and the many people who provided us with additional specimens from throughout Israel. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016, Arachnologische Gesellschaft e.V. All rights reserved.",

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AU - Gavish-Regev, Efrat

N1 - Funding Information: We wish to thank Prof. Yael Lubin and Iris Musli (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev), for discussions, comments and help in identifications. This study was supported by The Israel Taxonomy Initiative (ITI) fellowship to IA, we wish to acknowledge the Israeli ministry of Science, Culture and Sport for supporting the national collections of natural history at Tel Aviv University as a biodiversity, environment and agriculture research knowledge centre. We thank Itay Kahana for help with material sorting and the many people who provided us with additional specimens from throughout Israel. Publisher Copyright: © 2016, Arachnologische Gesellschaft e.V. All rights reserved.

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N2 - The structure of an ecological community is shaped by diverse factors and processes, including competition for resources between species with similar ecological niches. Species coexistence in the face of competition is achieved by various mechanisms, such as niche partitioning, e.g. division of resources in space and time. We studied the effect of environmental variables on activity-density of the four lycosid species found in a Mediterranean shrubland in Israel, in the spring of 2012. We tested if spatial and temporal niche partitioning enables coexistence among the four ecologically similar lycosid spiders, using multivariate analyses (RDA, Species Response Curves and Trait Analysis (RLQ)) of vegetation structure, habitat characteristics and land use, as well as time in the season. Activity-density was significantly affected by time in the season and the interaction of time and geophyte density. These findings provide first insights into the life cycles of lycosid species in Mediterranean shrublands in Israel, with spider species of the same size-group reaching their activity peaks at different times.

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KW - Wolf spiders

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Activity-density data reveal community structure of Lycosidae at a Mediterranean shrubland

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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