Diversity and Distribution of Spiders in Gogi, Yadgir District: A Semi-arid Landscape in Southern India

Sunil Nautiyal, Y.D. Imran Khan, Harald Kachele, K. Bhaskar

Abstract


Anthropogenic activities such as the use of pesticides in agriculture field, intensive grazing, and human interferences can affect spider populations and assemblages. The Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL), a Government of India enterprise under the Department of Atomic Energyhas setup uranium ore mining site at Gogi, Yadgir District of Karnataka in 2012. Therefore, this study was undertaken as baseline to understand the status, population, and distribution of spiders in different ecosystems viz., natural, agro, and domestic ecosystems of a semiarid region in southern India. The natural and agroecosystems were further divided into three habitats each: the natural ecosystems: grasslands, treescapes (land dominated by trees) and barren land; the agroecosystems: red gram field, rice paddy field and cotton field. Spider assemblages were sampled using pitfall traps, beating and netting for density, abundance and frequency measurements in all the selected habitats. A total of 82 spider species belonging to 19 families were found. Lycosidae was the dominant family represented by 17 species. Barren lands had the greatest spider diversity of 64 species with a density of 13 individuals m-2 from 15 families (Araneae) as compared with the other habitats tested. Functional groups were also studied depending upon the hunting behaviour and daily activityof the spider taxa. Majority of species were diurnal-web builders (35) and diurnal-hunter (29). However, twelve species were found to be diurnal-ambusher, five species nocturnal-hunter and one species nocturnal-web builder. By elucidating diversity of spiders in Gogi, this study enables further investigation of the contribution of ecosystem services by these invertebrates in semi-arid landscapes dominated by agricultural practices.

Keywords


Arachnida; Semiarid Ecosystem; Habitat; Ecosystems; Diversity

References


Archana, M. 2011. Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from Toranmal Sanctuary, Maharashtra, India. E-International Scientific Research Journal 3: 326-334.

Batáry, P.; Báldi, A.; Sárospataki, M.; Kohler, F.; Verhulst, J.; Knop, E.; Herzog, F. and Kleijn, D. 2010. Effect of conservation management on bees and insect-pollinated grassland plant communities in three European countries. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 136: 35-39.

Biaggini, M.; Consroti, R.; Dapporto, L.; Dellacasa, M.; Paggetti, E. and Corti, C. 2007. The taxonomic level order as a possible too for rapid assessment of Arthropod diversity in agricultural landscapes. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 122: 183-191.

Buchholz, S. 2009. Community structure of spiders in coastal habitats of a Mediterranean delta region (Nestos Delta, NE Greece). Animal Biodiversity and Conservation 32: 1010-115.

Bury, R.B. and Corn, P.S. 1987. Evaluation of pitfall trapping in northwestern forests: trap arrays with drift fences. Journal of Wildlife Management 51: 112-119.

Champion, H.G. and Seth, S.K. 1968. A Revised Survey of the Forest Types of India. Government of India, New Delhi. 430 pages.

Churchill, T.B. and Arthur, J. 1999. Measuring spider richness. Effects of different sampling methods and spatial and temporal scales. Journal of Insect Conservation 3: 287-295.

Coddington, J.A.; Young. L.H. and Coyle, F.A. 1996. Estimating spider species richness in a southern Appalachian cove hardwood forest. Journal of Arachnology 24: 111-128.

Deshmukh, U.S. and Raut, N.M. 2014. Seasonal Diversity and Status of Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) in Salbardi forest (Satpura Range), Maharashtra, India. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 2 (6): 278-281.

Finch, O.D.; Krummen, H.; Plaisier, H. and Schultz, W. 2007. Zonation of spiders (Araneae) nd carabid beettles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in island sald marshes at the North Sea Coast. Wetlands Ecology and Management 15: 207-228.

Hore, U. and Uniyal, V.P. 2008. Diversity and composition of spider assemblages in five vegetation types of the Terai conservation area, India. Journal of Arachnology36: 251-258.

Kaston, B. J. 1978. How to Know the Spiders. (3rd edition). Wm.C. Brown publishing Company, Dubuque, Iowa. 272 pages.

Lawania, K.K.; Trigunayat, K.; Kain, P.S and Trigunayat, M.M. 2013. On The Spider Diversity in And Around Deegtown, Bharatpur (Rajasthan). Indian Journal of Arachnology 2: 47-52.

McDonald, B. 2007. Effects of Vegetation Structure on Foliage Dwelling Spider Assemblages in Native and Non-native Oklahoma Grassland Habitats. Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science 87: 85-88.

Moser, D.; Zechmeister, H.G.; Plutzar, C.; Sauberer, N.; Wrbka, T. and Grabherr, G. 2002. Landscape patch shape complexity as an effective measure for plant species richness in rural landscapes. Landscape Ecology 17: 657-669.

Nautiyal, S.; Bhaskar, K, and Khan, Y.D.I. 2015. Biodiversity of Semiarid Landscape: Baseline Study for Understanding the Impact of Human Development on Ecosystems. Springer International Publishing, Switzerland. 398 pages.

Nyffeler, M. 2000. Ecological impact of spider predation: a critical assessment of Bristowe’s and Turnbull’s estimates. Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 11: 367-373.

Patel, B.H. 2003. Spiders of Vansda National park Gujarat. Zoos’ Print Journal 18(4): 1079-1083.

Pocock, R. I. 1900. Chilopoda and Arachnida. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 69: 48-55. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1890.tb01702.x

Saini, K.C.; Chauhan, R. and Singh, N.P. 2012.Analysis of Spider Density across Shekhawati Aravalian Region of Rajasthan, India. Indian Journal of Arachnology 1: 30-39

Schmidt, M.H.; Roschewitz, I.; Thies, C. and Tscharntke, T. 2005. Differential effects of landscape and management on diversity of ground dwelling farmland spiders. Journal of Applied Ecology 42: 281-287.

Sebastian, P. A. and Peter, K.V. 2009. Spiders of India. Universities Press (India), Hyderabad. 614 pages.

Shannon, C.E. and Weaver, W. 1949. The Mathematical Theory of Communication. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL. 125 pages

Siliwal, M.; Molur, S. and Biswas, B.K. 2005. Indian spiders (Arachnida: Araneae): updated checklist. Zoo’s Print Journal 20: 1999-2049.

Siliwal, M.; Suresh, B. and Pilo, B. 2003. Spiders of Purna Wildlife Sanctuary, Dangs, Gujarat. Zoo’s Print Journal 18(11): 1259-1263.

Simpson, E.H. 1949. Measurement of diversity. Nature 163: 688.

Sørensen, L.L.; Coddington, J.A. and Scharff, N. 2002. Inventorying and estimating sub-canopy spider diversity using semi-quantitative sampling methods in an Afromontane forest. Environmental Entomology 31: 319-330.

Tikader, B.K. 1977. Studies on spider fauna of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Indian Ocean. Records of Zoological Survey of India 72: 157-212.

Tikader, B.K. 1980. Fauna of India: Spider (Thomisidae and Lycosidae). Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta. 443pages.

Tikader, B.K. 1982. Fauna of India: Spider (Araneidae and Gnaphosidae). Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta. 533pages.

Tikader, B.K. 1987. Handbook: Indian Spiders. Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta. 251pages.

Tikader, B.K. and Biswas, B. 1981. Spider fauna of Calcutta and vicinity. Part I. Records of Zoological Survey of India, Occasional Paper 30: 1-148.

Tscharntke, T.; Bommarco, R.; Clough, Y.; Crist, T.O.; Kleijn, D.; Rand, T.A.; Tylianakis, J.M.; van Nouhuys, S. and Vidal, S. 2007. Conservation biological control and enemy diversity on a landscape scale. Biological Control 43: 294- 309.

Wani, S.P.; Sahrawat, K.L.; Sarvesh, K.V.; Baburao, M. and Krishnappa, K. (Editors) 2011. Soil Fertility Atlas for Karnataka, India. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru, India. 312 pages.


Full Text: PDF

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

COPYRIGHT of this Journal vests fully with the National Instional Institute of Ecology. Any commercial use of the content on this site in any form is legally prohibited.