Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T22:51:27.921Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Abundance and diversity of spiders from the canopy of tropical rainforests with particular reference to Sulawesi, Indonesia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

A. Russell-Smith
Affiliation:
Natural Resources Institute, Central Avenue, Chatham Maritime, Kent ME4 4TB, UK
N. E. Stork
Affiliation:
Biodiversity Division, Department of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK

Abstract

Spiders were sampled by knockdown insecticide fogging from the canopies of tropical rainforest sites in Dumoga-Bone National Park, Sulawesi, at altitudes of 210 m, 300 m, 400 m and 1150 m. The density of spiders in the canopies increased with altitude from 0.97 m−2 at 210 m to 14.6 at 1150 m−2. Species numbers increased five-fold between 210 m and 1150 m but species diversity (α of the log series) was greatest at 210 m and least at 1150 m, partially due to dominance of the fauna by few species at the highest altitude. Similarity between the spiders' communities (as measured by the Morisita-Horn index) was greatest between canopies at 300 m and 400 m and least at 400 m and 1150 m.

Theridiidae were abundant in forests at all altitudes, Pholcidae and Salticidae in the lowland forests between 210 m and 400 m and Clubionidae, Linyphiidae and Oonopidae in the montane forest at 1150 m. Theridiidae was the most species-rich family at all altitudes (22−30% of all species). Other species-rich families included Araneidae (7−19%) and Salticidae (8−17%) in lowland forests and Clubionidae (12%), Oonopidae (10%) and Salticidae (12%) in the montane forest.

Published information on density, proportion and diversity of spiders in canopies of both tropical and temperate trees is reviewed and the results discussed in relation to those from the present study.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Adis, J. 1984. ‘Seasonal Igapo’ forests of central Amazonian black-water rivers and their terrestrial arthropod fauna. Pp. 245268 in Sioli, H. (ed.). The Amazon – limnology and landscape ecology of a mighty tropical river and its basin. Monographiae Biologicae, Junk. Dordrecht.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adis, J., Lubin, Y. D. & Montgomery, G. G. 1984. Arthropods from the canopy of inundated and terra firme forests near Manaus, Brazil, with critical considerations of the pyrethrum-fogging technique. Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment 19:223236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basset, Y. 1988. A composite interception trap for sampling arthropods in tree canopies. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 27:213219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basset, Y. 1990. The arboreal fauna of the rainforest tree Argyrodendron actinophyllum as sampled with restricted canopy fogging: Composition of the fauna. The Entomologist 109:173183.Google Scholar
Basset, Y. 1991a. The taxonomic composition of the arthropod fauna associated with an Australian rainforest tree. Australian Journal of Zoology 39:171190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basset, Y. 1991b. The seasonality of arboreal arthropods foraging within an Australian rainforest tree. Ecologial Entomology 16:265278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basset, Y. 1991c. Leaf production of an overstorey rainforest tree and its effects on the temporal distribution of associated insect herbivores. Oecologia 88:211219.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Basset, Y. 1991d. Influence of leaf traits on the spatial distribution of insect herbivores associated with an overstorey rainforest tree. Oecologia 87:388393.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Basset, Y. & Kitching, R. L. 1991. Species number, species abundance and body length of arboreal arthropods associated with an Australian rainforest tree. Ecological Entomology 16:391402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coddington, J. A., Griswold, C. E., Davila, D. S., Penaranda, E. & Larcher, S. F. 1991. Designing and testing sampling protocols to estimate biodiversity in tropical ecosystems. Pp. 4460 in Dudley, E. C. (ed.). The unity of evolutionary biology: Proceedings of the Fourth International Congress of Systematic and Evolutionary Biology. Dioscorides Press, Portland, USA.Google Scholar
Erwin, T. L., 1982. Tropical forests: their richness in Coleoptera and other arthropod species. Coleopterists' Bulletin 36:7475.Google Scholar
Erwin, T. L. 1983. Beetles and other insects of tropical forest canopies at Manaus, Brazil sampled by insecticidal fogging. Pp. 5975 in Sutton, S. L., Whitmore, T. C. & Chadwick, A. C. (eds). Proceedings of the Tropical Rainforest Symposium, Leeds. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.Google Scholar
Erwin, T. L. 1990. Canopy arthropod biodiversity: A chronology of sampling techniques and results. Revista Peruana de Entomologia 32:7177.Google Scholar
Erwin, T. L. & Scott, J. C. 1980. Seasonal and size patterns, trophic structure, and richness of Coleoptera in the tropical arboreal ecosystem: The fauna of the tree Luehea seemannii Triana and Planch in the canal zone of Panama. Coleopterists' Bulletin 34:305322.Google Scholar
Haddow, A. J. & Corbet, P. S. 1961. Entomological studies from a high tower in Mpanga forest, Uganda. II. Observations on certain environmnental factors at different levels. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 113:257269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammond, P. M. 1990. Insect abundance and diversity in the Dumoga-Bone National Park, N. Sulawesi, with special reference to the beetle fauna of lowland forest in the Toraut region. Pp. 197254 in Knight, W. J. & Holloway, J. D. (eds). Insects and the rain forests of South-East Asia (Wallacea). Royal Entomological Society, London.Google Scholar
Hijii, N. 1983. Arboreal arthropod fauna in a forest. I. Preliminary observations on seasonal fluctuations in density, biomass and faunal composition in a Chamaecyparis obtusa plantation. Japanese Journal of Ecology 33:435444.Google Scholar
Hill, D., Roberts, P. & Stork, N. 1990. Densities and biomass of invertebrates in stands of rotationally managed coppice woodland. Biological Conservation 51:167176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klomp, H. & Teerink, B. J. 1973. The density of the summer invertebrate fauna on the crowns of pine trees, Pinus sylvestris, in the central part of the Netherlands. Beitrage zur Entomologie 23:325:340.Google Scholar
Magurran, A. E. 1988. Ecological diversity and its measurement. Croom Helm, London. 179 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Majer, J. D. & Recher, H. F. 1988. Invertebrate communities on Western Australian eucalypts: A comparison of branch clipping and chemical knockdown. Australian Journal of Ecology 13:269278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, R. R. 1992. Populations of arboreal spiders (Araneae) on Douglas-firs in the interior Pacific Northwest. Environmental Entomology 21:7580.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Donovan, G. 1990. Vegetation patterns in the Dumoga-Bone National Park, Sulawesi. Pp. 129143 in Knight, W. J. & Holloway, J. D. (eds). Insects and the rain forests of South-East Asia (Wallacea). Royal Entomological Society, London.Google Scholar
Ohmart, C. P. & Voigt, W. G. 1981. Arthropod communities in the crowns of the natural and planted stands of Pinus radiata (Monterey pine) in California. Canadian Entomologist 113:673684.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Overgaard Nielsen, N. 1975. The species composition and community structure of the beech canopy fauna in Denmark. Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra Dansk Naturhistorisk Forming i Kjobenhavn 138:137170.Google Scholar
Renault, T. R. & Miller, C. A. 1972. Spiders in a fir-spruce biotype: abundance, diversity and influence on spruce budworm densities. Canadian Journal of Zoology 50:10391046.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Southwood, T. R. E., Moran, V. C. & Kennedy, C. E. J. 1982. The richness, abundance and biomass of the arthropod communities in trees. Journal of Animal Ecology 51:635650.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stork, N. E. 1987a. Guild structure of arthropods from Bornean rain forest trees. Ecological Entomology 12:6980.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stork, N. E. 1987b. Arthropod faunal similarity of Bornean rainforest trees. Ecological Entomology 12:219226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stork, N. E. 1988. Insect diversity; facts, fiction and speculation. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 35:321327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stork, N. E. 1991. The composition of the arthropod fauna of Bornean lowland rain forest trees. Journal of Tropical Ecology 7:161180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stork, N. E. & Brendell, M. J. D. 1990. Variation in the insect fauna of Sulawesi trees with season, altitude and forest type. Pp. 173190 in Knight, W. J. & Holloway, J. D. (eds). Insects and the rain forests of South-East Asia (Wallacea). Royal Entomological Society, London.Google Scholar
Watanabe, H. & Ruaysoongnern, S. 1989. Estimation of arboreal arthropod density in a dry evergreen forest in Northeastern Thailand. Journal of Tropical Ecology 5:151158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
West, C. 1986. Insect communities in tree canopies. Pp. 209224 in Coe, M. & Collins, N. M. (eds). Kora. An ecological inventory of the Kora National Reserve, Kenya. National Museum of Kenya, Nairobi.Google Scholar
Wolda, H. 1983. Diversity, diversity indices and tropical cockroaches. Oecologia 58:290298.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yen, A. C. & Lillywhite, . 1990. A preliminary report on the invertebrates collected from the canopy of Tasmanian rain forest trees, with special reference to the Myrtle Beech. Report to the Tasmanian Department of Parks, Wildlife and Heritage.Google Scholar