Spider communities (Arachnida, Aranei) in the relict steppe sites in Moscow Region
Abstract
R.R. Seyfulina, I.N. Marin, D.I. Korobushkin
Spider communities of three neighboring grasslands (upland, lowland and steppe meadows) of Moscow Region (Prioksko-Terrasnyi Nature Reserve) were studied in 2014. Totally, 128 species from 86 genera and 18 families were collected. The taxonomic composition both epigeic and hortobiont spider communities of three meadows significantly differ from each other. In steppe meadows predominate xerophilous spider species, mesophilous species in lowland ones, and in the upland meadows highly dense hygrophilous and mesophilous species. However, the taxonomic composition of the steppe meadow was much closer to the lowland one than to upland meadow. The activity density didn’t differ significantly between three meadows, but herpetobiont spider density was significantly higher in steppe and lowland meadow, than in upland one. The spider assemblage of steppe meadow stands out of other grasslands with its high specificity, and the spider assembly has distinct features of true steppe.
Keywords: Soil invertebrates; Arthropoda; diversity; Prioksko-Terrasnyi Nature Reserve; steppe meadow; sweeping; pitfalls
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