Baseline survey of spider (Arachnida: Araneae) biodiversity at the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve

Author / Creator

LaPlante, Katie, author

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Summary

Baseline surveys of species composition provide researchers with valuable information to form hypotheses regarding the biodiversity, ecological value, and ultimately the health of the surrounding e...

Baseline surveys of species composition provide researchers with valuable information to form hypotheses regarding the biodiversity, ecological value, and ultimately the health of the surrounding environment. In recent years, as the effects of climate change progress, it is becoming increasingly important to understand the dynamic environment surrounding us and to respond to unwelcome changes with adequate management practices. The objective of this study is to provide an estimate of the number of species present within the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR), describe spider assemblages present within major habitat types, and to identify any spider species of conservation concern within the reserve. The location of this study is unique in that it encompasses a large diversity of habitats within the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve. Repeated sampling was conducted monthly during June, July, August, and September 2017 at multiple sites representing some of the major terrestrial and wetland habitat types on the NERR: Young and mature deciduous forest; conifer forest; old fields and other early successional habitats; riparian and lacustrine sedge meadows and Typha wetlands; and riparian shrub carr. The number of Douglas county spider species records has been increased by 148 to a county record of 163 species. Of the previous 32 Douglas County records, we collected 53.1% in this study. Based off of these values, estimated species richness of Douglas County is 282. Estimate S Richness estimator software (Chao type-1) predicted 222 with a standard deviation of 34, which is comparable to our Douglas county estimate value. Ten new state records, including one national record, have been collected and identified from the NERR. Northernness indices assessed for spiders collected from the NERR exhibit a trend towards species found within the northern range of their current distribution as opposed to the southern range of their distributions. This is evident by contrasting range extensions of seventeen northern range extensions and only one southern range extension among species collected.

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