Dissemin is shutting down on January 1st, 2025

Published in

Elsevier, Basic and Applied Ecology, 1(16), p. 86-92

DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2014.11.003

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Extensive niche overlap among the dominant arthropod predators of the High Arctic

Journal article published in 2015 by Helena K. Wirta, Elisabeth Weingartner, Peter A. Hambäck ORCID, Tomas Roslin
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Red circle
Postprint: archiving forbidden
Red circle
Published version: archiving forbidden
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

In the High Arctic, the species richness of spiders is typically low, but abundances can be very high. Thus, how the few spider species occurring in the region choose their prey, and what prey taxa they focus on, may significantly affect the community structure of arctic arthropods. Here we estimate the ecological imprint of adult spiders of three large-bodied species coexisting in Northeast Greenland: the morphologically similar crab spiders Xysticus deichmanni and X. labradorensis (Thomisidae) and the wolf spider Pardosa glacialis (Lycosidae). To describe an important part of these spiders’ diet in detail, we amplified and sequenced DNA from prey remains in their guts, selectively focusing on two of the most abundant prey orders in the area (Diptera and Lepidoptera). By comparing the resultant sequences to a reference library including most taxa encountered in the region, we assigned the prey to species. Among the spider taxa occurring in the region, the wolf spider Pardosa glacialis is dominant in terms of both biomass and density. All three spider species proved to be wide generalists, with no detectable differences in prey choice among either the two crab spiders, or among these crab spiders and the wolf spider. This lack of dietary differentiation among species may be caused by the limited prey availability in the Arctic, forcing the predators to both generalism and opportunism. Given the substantial abundance of spiders and the lack of other predatory arthropods in the region, the opportunistic prey choice observed implies that these High-Arctic spider species have the potential for inflicting a strong influence on their prey community.