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The Role of Vegetation Architecture in Determining Spider Community Organization Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 5-1978 The Role of Vegetation Architecture in Determining Spider Community Organization Cynthia L. Hatley Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the Biology Commons, and the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons Recommended Citation Hatley, Cynthia L., "The Role of Vegetation Architecture in Determining Spider Community Organization" (1978). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 5038. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/5038 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE ROLE OF VEGETATION ARCHITECTURE IN DETE~~INING SPIDER COMMUNITY ORGfu~IZATION by Cynthia L. Hatley A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in BIOLOGY ECOLOGY A~proved: UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 1978 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS • iii LIST OF TABLES iv LIST OF FIGURES vi SUMMARY vii INTRODUCTION • 1 Plot Description. 4 METHODS 5 Shrubs . 5 Spiders 13 RESULTS 19 Seasonal Variation . 19 Shrubs . 26 Spiders 30 DISCUSSION 53 Seasonal Variation . 53 Shrub Architecture . 55 Species and Guild Diversity . 56 Guilds . 57 Problems and Areas for Future Study 61 REFERENCES 62 APPENDIX 66 iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my major professor Dr. James A. MacMahon for his assistance throughout this study, and the other members of my commit­ tee Drs. George E. Bohart and Ivan G. Palmblad for their helpful criti­ cisms of the manuscript. Eric Zucher and Don Phillips reviewed the manu­ script, Linda Finchum typed the manuscript and Kim Marshall wrote the data reduction programs. Dr. Willis Gertsch determined the spider species. Special thanks to G. Murchie Briggs for help in preparation of the manuscript and for constant encouragement. ,Part of the study was made possible by the US/IBP Desert Biome (NSF Grant# GB-32139). Cynthia L. Hatley iv LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Spider species included in each guild . 15 2. Correlation coefficients relating seasonal factors and indicies of spider species and guild diversity . 27 3. Correlation coefficients relating seasonal factors and guild relative densities. Guilds are as in Fig. 5. 28 4. Correlation matrix relating shrub architectural parameters . 29 5. Separation of shrubs into groups using shrub photographs 31 6. Comparison of mean weekly spider density in clipped, tied and control shrubs 32 7. Correlation coefficients relating indicies of spider and guild diversity and shrub architectural parameters 33 8. Comparison of weekly guild IV in clipped, tied and control shrubs . 35 9. Comparison of weekly guild relative density in clipped, tied and control shrubs 42 10. Correlation coefficients relating guild density and shrub architectural parameters 43 11. ANOV and LSD calculations comparing species density in the three shrub groups . 45 12. ANOV and LSD calculations comparing resident spider species density in the three shrub groups 46 13. ANOV and LSD calculations comparing spider guild density in the three shrub groups 47 14. ANOV and LSD calculations comparing guild 1 density in the three shrub groups 48 15. ANOV and LSD calculations comparing guild 2 density in the three shrub groups 49 16. ANOV and LSD calculations comparing guild 3 density in the three shrub groups 50 17. M~OV and LSD calculations comparing guild 4 density in the three shrub groups 51 v Table Page 18. ANOV and LSD calculations comparing guild 5 density in the three shrub groups . 51 19. Mean, maximum and minimum weekly summer temperature and relative humidity in 1974 67 20. Mean, maximum and minimum weekly summer temperature and relative humidity in 1975 68 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Photographs of a clipped shrub taken before and after the foliage density was decreased by clipping 8 2. Photographs of a tied shrub taken before and after the foliage density was increased by tying its branches together 10 3. Photograph of a typical Artemisia tridentata illustrating areas of dense foliage, open foliage and crown . 12 4. Seasonal patterns of spider species diversity (H'), species density (p) and evenness (J') in 1974 and 1975 . 21 5. Seasonal pattern of spider guild IV's in 1974. Guild 1 includes the families Gnaphosidae, Anyphaenidae and Clubionidae; guild 2 includes the subfamily Philodrominae; guild 3 includes the subfamily Misumeninae; guild 4 includes the families Salticidae and Oxyopidae; guild 5 includes the families Linyphiidae, Theridiidae, Dictynidae, Argiopidae and Tetragnathidae 23 6. Seasonal pattern of spider guild IV's in 1975. Spider guilds are as in Fig. 5 25 7. Seasonal comparison of spider guild 1 and 2 IV's in clipped, tied and control shrubs. Spider guilds are as in Fig. 5 37 8. Seasonal comparison of spider guild 3 and 5 IV's in clipped, tied and control shrubs. Spider guilds are as in Fig. 5 39 9. Seasonal comparison of spider guild 4 IV's in clipped, tied and control shrubs. Guild 4 is as in Fig. 5 . 41 vii SUMMARY The Role of Vegetation Architecture in Determining Spider Community Organization by Cynthia L. Hatley, Master of Science Utah State University, 1978 Major Professor: Dr. James A. MacMahon Department; Biology The relationships between vegetation architecture and spider community attributes were examined in a big sage (Artemisia tridentata) community. Spiders were separated into guilds using similarities of species' hunting behavior. Shrub architecture was experimentally manipulated in the field by either clipping 50% of a shrub's foliage to decrease foliage density or tying together a shrub's branches to increase foliage density. Temporal patterns of spider species density, diversity (H') and evenness (J') showed midsummer peaks in both 1974 and 1975. Seasonal spider guild trends reflected the temporal prominence of a member species or genus. These temporally abundant species appeared to play a major functional role in this community. Shrub perturbations resulted in changes in spider species and guild densities. Spider species and guild density in the tied shrubs were significantly higher than that in the clipped or control shrubs sampled. Spider species diversity, density and guild density were also positively correlated with indicators of shrub volume and shrub foliage diversity. This suggests that structurally more complex shrubs (tied) can support greater spider species densities and diversity. viii Spider guild densities and IV's were significantly altered by changes of shrub architecture. The observed guild distributions . were in agreement with known hunting behavior and life history data of the member species. The data suggest that architectural properties of habitat may be an important determinant of predatory invertebrate species diversity and distribution. Guild analysis may be useful in examining the roles of species groups in community studies. (68 pages) INTRODUCTION Spatial heterogeneity may be a major factor affecting animal species diversity in a community. Species diversity has been correlated to various measures of habitat physical complexity. MacArthur and MacArthur (1961) used measures of vertical habitat diversity (Floral Height Diversity) to explain and predict bird species diversity (MacArthur et al., 1962; MacArthur, 1964). Pianka (1966, 1967) inclucted vertical and horizontal measures of habitat diversity (Plant Volume Diversity) in studies which correlated shrub structure with lizard species diversity in flatland desert communities. The relationship between habitat diver­ sity and species diversity has also been demonstrated for desert rodents (Rosenzweig and Winakur, 1969), marine invertebrates (Abele, 1973), spiders (Uetz, 1975) and insects (Murdock et al., 1972). Vegetation structure provides varying types of substrates or microhabitats which are differentially suitable for animal species. The type of substrate on which a species occurs may determine the food sources available to it and also dictates the method in which they are obtained. Spiders are well suited for ecological studies. As a group they are cosmopolitan, and locally abundant in terms of individuals and taxa. Their small size permits definition of a community in a small area. Spiders, as predators, are not coupled to a particular plant species as a food source; vegetation structure may therefore be an important determinant of spider community attributes. Spider distribution is affected by substrate structure (Barnes and Barnes, 1955; Duffey, 1962, 1966, 1968; Lowrie, 1948; Uetz, 1975). 2 Coleburn (1974) found that the spatial nature of limestone grikes affected the patterns of Araneus web distribution. Bulan and Barrett (1971) found that arachnid density decreased in oak fields after mowing and remained lower in subsequently burned fields than in unburned fields. The structure of spider communities has been found to change with plant succession through changes in spider species density and population density. In general the proportion of web-builders to hunting spiders increases towards a climax in vegetation (Lowrie, 1948; Dowdy, 1950; Chew, 1961). Studies of vegetation structure with regard to spiders have included the vertical and horizontal aspects of foliage distribution but rarely the internal qualitative attributes of foliage density.
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