Influence of vegetation characteristics and climatic variables on arboreal spider communities in grassland-shrub systems

Spiders associated with grasslands of Central North America are important predators and fill many niches of the landscape. However, data is lacking for native arboreal spiders and we cannot clearly determine what biotic and abiotic features of a landscape are crucial to these organisms’ survival. Therefore, I will be focusing on life history of shrub dwelling spiders in the Colorado grassland ecoregions.  In this ongoing study, 28 spider species have been collected at Pawnee and Comanche National Grasslands of eastern Colorado along sampling corridors of vegetation representing dominant shrubland plant species. Results indicate that shrub species offer unique structural or temporal factors affecting arthropod communities in grassland systems. Incorporation of climatic variables of the study areas allows additional features for studying habitat choice and life history events. This research is intended to contribute to the knowledge base of spider biodiversity and their ecological dynamics within grassland systems. This information will also be useful for future conservation efforts and ecosystem models.