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Title:
CSPs: Spider functional traits from pitfall traps in the CSPs
Access rights:
Free within projects
Usage rights:
Data use is restricted to SP8
Published:
No information available
Abstract:
Dataset on functional traits of epigeic spiders from the pitfall traps in the 27 CSPs. The effects of species loss on ecosystems depend on the functional characteristics of the species, i.e. the functional diversity, in a community. However, how functional diversity responds to environmental changes in natural ecosystems is only poorly understood. This particularly applies to higher trophic levels, which play a crucial role in regulating ecosystem processes and might be strongly affected by human-induced environmental changes. The dataset provides species traits that are related to resource use and which can thus be used to analyze aspects of the functional diversity of an important group of generalist predators.
Design:
The list of spiders stems from the pitfall trap catches conducted from March to September 2009 (four traps per plot) in the CSPs. Body size was measured as the total length from the front of the carapace to the end of the abdomen. Up to six individuals per species were measured and mean body size (averaged across male and female data) was used as a continuous variable. Phenology was based on the main activity periods of each species over the trapping season and included as a categorical variable (early, late or whole season). Hunting type, vegetation stratum and prey range were coded as binary variables depending on whether species were web-builders or cursorial hunters, preferred forest floor habitats or higher vegetational strata, and whether they were generalists or prey specialists (e.g. many Mimetidae and Zodariidae are specialized spider and ant hunters, respectively). Data on hunting type, stratum and prey range is mostly available only on family or genus level. However, it has been shown that these traits are largely conserved within families and allow for adequate classification of species in most cases (Cardoso et al. 2011). We used data of Jocqué and Dippenaar-Schoeman (2007: Spider families of the world. Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren), Cardoso et al. (2011: Global patterns of guild composition and functional diversity of spiders. PLoS ONE 6:e21710), and own observations to assign species to the respective type of hunting, preferred stratum and prey range. It is difficult to know whether species recorded with very few individuals are biologically associated to a habitat. As in many cases they only represent accidental occurrences of vagrant species, for a meaningful analysis we focused on species that were recorded with more than four individuals in the total catch. The species excluded made up on average 3.6% (±1.4 SD) of spider individuals recorded per plot and were on average smaller than the species analyzed, indicating that their functional impact is low. Species richness patterns were not affected by this procedure.
Spatial extent:
Comparative Study Plots, Gutianshan 29°08'-29°17'N 118°02'-118°11'E
Temporal extent:
Growing season 2009
Taxonomic extent:
Spiders
Measurement cirumstances:
No information available
Data analysis:
No information available

Filter:
Dataset column

Name:
Species
Definition:
Spider species name
Unit:
No information available
Datagroup:
Spider species
Keywords:
species, taxon
Values:
Anahita_fauna
Castianeira_flavimaculata
Agelenidae_7
Agelenidae_6
Atypus_1
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
Body_length
Definition:
Mean body length; Body size was measured as the total length from the front of the carapace to the end of the abdomen. Up to six individuals per species were measured and mean body size (averaged across male and female data) was used as a continuous variable
Unit:
millimeter
Datagroup:
Body length of an animal
Keywords:
body length
Values:
13
1.3
14
12
10.25
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
Stratum
Definition:
Main stratum used: foliage or ground hunter
Unit:
No information available
Datagroup:
Functional spider traits
Keywords:
vegetation stratum
Values:
forest_floor
foliage
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
Hunting_type
Definition:
Hunting type: cursorial hunter or web builder
Unit:
No information available
Datagroup:
Functional spider traits
Keywords:
hunting type
Values:
cursorial
web
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
Specialist
Definition:
Specialized prey use (specialist) or generalist
Unit:
No information available
Datagroup:
Functional spider traits
Keywords:
specialization
Values:
specialist
generalist
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
Phenology
Definition:
Main activity period (spring, fall, whole trapping season)
Unit:
No information available
Datagroup:
Functional spider traits
Keywords:
phenology
Values:
whole
spring
fall
Contributors:
No information available

No information available


Filter:
Attachment:

File name:
Functional_trait_dataset_pitfall_spiders.xls
Description:
original file
Uri:
No information available
Is essential:
No information available
Content type:
application/vnd.ms-excel
File size:
137 KB
Created at:
2013-05-31
Updated at:
2013-05-31

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26 schuldt medium

Andreas
Schuldt

Owner of:
36 Datasets

Involved in:
7 Projects

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