The Diversity and Succession of Wandering Spider Communities on INCO Ltd. Reclaimed Tailings Habitats David Peter Shorthouse THESIS SUBMITTED M PARTIAL RnFILLMENT OF THE REQUTREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN BIOLOGY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES LAURENTIAN UNIVERSITY SUDBURY, ONTARIO 1998 O David Peter Shorthouse, 1998 National Library Bibliothèque nationale 1*1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographk Sewices setvices bibliographiques 395 Welüngton Street 395, rue Wdlingtm OrcawaûN K1AW OLeewaON KtAON4 Canada canada The auîhor has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence dowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Cmda to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loaq distniute or sell reproduire, prêter, distriidmer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/nlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fkom it Ni la thése ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Canada Master of Science Laurentian University S io logy Department of Biology 1998 Sudbury, Ontario TITLE: The Diversity and Succession of Wandering Spider Cornmunit ies on INCO Ltd. Rechimed Tailings Habitats NAME: David Peter Shorthouse SUPERVISOR: Y. Alarie, Ph D. NCTMBER OF PAGES: 146 ABSTRACT: INCO Ltd. of Copper Cliff, Ontario has generated over 450,000 tonnes of taiiings material contained in an area of roughiy 2,225 ha. An additionai 270,000 tonnes of deposition is anticipated within 30 yean. INCO Ltd. taiiings are fhely ground, waste bedrock generated fiom the milling process that contains little to no nutrients but elevated levels of sulfide-complexed heavy metals (Cu,Ni, Fe). The naturally occurring oxidation of these metal sulfdes in the presence of rainwater leads to the acidification of ground and subsurface waters, a process known as "ac id-rnine drainage". Mining companies are legally bund to reclaim disturbed land to the best approximation of what was present before their activities begaa iNCO Ltd. is in the process of ameliorating their disturbed property while attempting to eliminate funue legacies of acid-generat hg land. The technique employed coasists of spreading massive amounts of lime, fertilizer and straw directly on top of the tailings subsaate. Mer the tailings pH is deemed adequate for plant growth, various species of grasses and herbs are seeded. FoUowing a growth period of approxhately 5 yeas, tree species are planted. It is hoped that the eventual formation of soi1 and a thick humus mat, will intercept much of the rainwater and reduce oxygen diffusion, thus reducing the level of sulfuric acid formation and heavy metal runoff. It is also hoped that prospective habitats will support a biotic community in concert with their relatively undisturbed surroundings. The INCO Ltd. tailings sites fonn of an anthro pogenic gradient fiom bue, unrec laimed tailings (year O), through grassland habitats (5 years poa-reciamation), to a rnixed-wood habitat with a rich understory of grasses and herbs (1 5 years post-reclarnation), ending in a monoculture of conifers with little understory (30 years pst-reclarnation). It is assumed that animal life also follows a similar successional pattern. In order to assess the biological success and sustainability of the reclamation process, a guild of ground-dweliing spiders (Araneae) was inventoried. This %andering spider" guild as it is called (Uetz 1979), is composed of the abundant cursorial families, Lycosidae, Gnaphosidae, Clubionidae, Philodromidae, Thomisidae, and some members of the families Hahniidae and Agelenidae. These spiders share a similar habitus because of their body shape and size and mode of prey capture. They are ideal ecological indicat ors because of their abundance (dowing for diversity assessments), because the y are short-lived (thus adjusting more rapidly to changes in the environment), and because their taxonomy is well understood (assuring correct identification) (Clausen 1986, Allred 1975). One disadvantage of the taxonomy of this group however. is the difficulty in identifying immature specirnens because species are identified based on the examination of omate sexual organs present ody in the adult lifestage. Wandering spiders were pitfàll trapped on each of the four tailings habitat types throughout the surnmer of 1996. The diversity of these spider communities was compared to the diversity of communities on control sites located within the Sudbury region, assumed to represent healthy, or equüibrium States. Three of the four control sites were chosen to reflect the hcearea, physiognomy, and age of three reclaimed tailings habitats. This was accomplished by selecting sites that had natually recovered fiom forest fire disturbance. A fourth control site was chosen as a representative of Sudbury's widespread and unique Birch Transiîion ecotone (Amiro and Courtin 198 1). Based on determinations of general habitat preferences of ten of the moa abundant species, a qualitative hunistic assessrnent alluded to potential physical and/or biologicd constraints associated with MC0 Ltd. tailings sites. These potential constraints may help to explain varying abundances of species such as Gnuphosa pmfaBanks, Zelotesfia~risChamberlin, and Purdosa moesta Banks between tailings and control sites. The a (alpha) diversity, of wandering spider cornmunities was compared via abundance-based species richness estimations and Shannon- Wiener indices. The results fkom these analyses revealed that there were more species on the control sites than on the tailings sites and that some tailings sites were not as diverse as their control site counterparts. The P (beta) diversity, or species turn-over, of wandering spiders on tailings and control sites was examined using the Morisita-Hom and Bray-Curt is comrnunity similarity coe flic ients. These revealed that the wandering spider cornmunities on the two oldea, hypothesized to be the healthiest, reclaimed tailings sites were moa similar to control sites. These meanires also demonstrated that early successiona1 reclaimed tailings sites were somewhat more similar to older, later successional reclaimed tailings sites. This suggested an avenue of wandering spider arriva1 and establishment. In addition, a dendogram constnicted with clusters of Bray-Curtis coefficients illustrated that barren, unreclaimed tailings supported a community of spiders dissimilar to aii other communities examined. Al1 of the wandering spider communities on control sites were deemed mature and varied naturai communities, significantly fating the tnuicated log no4model. The bare tailings and 30-year-old tailings cornmunit ies on the other hand, significantly fit the geometric model suggeaing that these sites represent either stressed ecosystems or ecosystems in the early stages of succession. The results obtained in this study add to the knowledge of wandering spider diversity in the Sudbury region as well as provide insight into the health of INCO Ltd. reclaimed tailings habitats. These results should be heeded should INCO Ltd. wish to undertake responsible mine c losure. iii This thesis is dedicated to my wife, Sara Shorthouse (née Marcantognini)?for her patience and encouragement. ACKNO WLEDGMENTS I am grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Yves Alarie, for providing his tirne and energy. 1 am also gratefùl to rny comminee members. Dr. Gerard Courtin and Dr. Giuseppe Bagatto, and to my extemal examiner, Dr. Henri Goulet, for their exacting evaluations, Dr. Goulet is a research scientist with the Eastern Cereal and Gilseed Research Centre (ECORC),a Research Branch of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. I am especially indebted to Dr. Bagatto for his field assistance and his extensive statist ical howledge. 1 am gratefbl of CO-workerswho have assisted me with field-work. These are, in no particular order, Sara Shorthouse, Daniel Paquette, Cdey Tissington, Monica Turk, and Liane Dumas. Without their help, this thesis would not have ken possible. 1 am also inde bted to my parents for their support. 1 have been forninate to have a father as a faculty member of Laurentian University's Biology Department. He has provided support at both ernotional and professional levels; somethuig unique in any institution. 1 am especially thankful of Sara who has endured my late nights with understanding. She has been a fantastic field assistant and continues to be my best fiend. Financial support for this project was provided by grants &om INCO Ltd. Support for my education included a Laurentian University bursary, an Ornario Graduate Scholarship, and two Graduate Teaching Assistantships. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Abstract 1 Dedication iv Acknowledgments v Table of Contents vi List of Figures viii List of Tables X 1. General Introduction II. An Introduction to MC0 Ltd. Tailings III. An Introduction to Spider Biology A. The Classification of Spiders B. Spider Anatomy C. Anatomy as it Relates to Classification D. Wandering Spider Ecology IV. Site Descriptions A. Study Locale B. Study Sites i) INCO Ltd. Tailings Sites iii Control Sites V. General Materials and Methods M. Faunisic Assessrnent of Wandering Spiders