Land use change affects spider community structure in the urban ecosystem of Cleveland, Ohio

Much of the 3,300 acres of vacant land within Cleveland, Ohio, is under consideration for land use conversion in efforts to revitalize the city, including urban garden development, park creation, and natural refuges for biodiversity. Land use change and management affects a variety of ecosystem services, including those provided by arthropods, such as pollination, organic decomposition, and pest control. Spiders are ubiquitous throughout the urban landscape and may serve as a model system for understanding the impacts of urban land use change.

Pitfall traps and vacuum sampling collections occurred in 2011 along a decreasing disturbance gradient: community gardens; maintained turf-based vacant lots; and park grasslands serving as biodiversity refugia and representative of potential grassland conversion sites. Pitfall data analyzed from June 2011 indicate that spider family diversity generally declines with increasing disturbance levels. Spiders were equally abundant in the grasslands and vacant lots, and abundances were significantly higher than in the gardens.

Spiders have the potential to be important natural enemy servicers within urban greenspaces. Such services are crucial for urban garden development in Cleveland as demand for local food and sustainable economic practices increases in the surrounding communities. Low spider abundances in gardens in June show that these predators are negatively influenced by disturbance, yet garden management practices which include leaving untilled areas may provide refuges for spiders so that they can continue breeding throughout the season and potentially increase in abundance. Therefore, this work may assist future development and management of sustainable community gardens and also grassland refugia.