Spider (Araneae) assemblage and guild changes in logged areas of the piedmont forest of northwestern Argentina

Abstract

Spiders are sensitive to disturbances that occur on forest structure. It is a need to understand how this activity affects spider assemblies to feature sustainable forest management guidelines. Our goal was to study the response of the araneofauna to logging (AF) in the piedmont forest, Argentina. We collected spiders using pitfall traps and we measured vegetation variables at AF and a reference area (R). The capture rate of Linyphiidae spiders were higher at AF than R, and the capture rate of cursorial guild were inverse. This could be due to the fact that Linyphiidae spiders have a great power of re-establishing after disturbances, meanwhile cursorial spiders have specific habitat requirements what make them sensitive to forest modifications. The canonical correspondence analysis shows that spiders are associated with high woody cover and the understory growth, suggesting that they respond differentially to changes on forest. To ensure the conservation of spiders in logged areas it is necessary to retain intact areas within them.

Keywords: arthropods, forest, habitat complexity, forest management.