Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T04:19:14.528Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Density, body size and sex ratio of an indigenous spider along an altitudinal gradient in the sub-Antarctic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2011

Jennifer E. Lee ,
Michael J. Somers  and
Steven L. Chown
Jennifer E. Lee*
Affiliation:
Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
Michael J. Somers
Affiliation:
Centre for Wildlife Management, Centre for Invasion Biology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa Department of Zoology, Walter Sisulu University, Private Bag X1, UNITRA 5117, South Africa
Steven L. Chown
Affiliation:
Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
*
jlee@sun.ac.za
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Although spiders are a diverse and ecologically important group of predators across the sub-Antarctic islands, relatively little is known about their biology. Here we provide data on the abundance, body size variation and sex ratio of an indigenous spider, Myro kerguelenensis, across an altitudinal gradient on Marion Island. In so doing we test explicitly the hypotheses that density will decline with declining resource availability at higher elevations, and that a converse Bergmann body size cline will be found in this species. Density of M. kerguelenensis decreased with altitude and ranged from a mean density of 5.3 (SD 3.42) individuals per m2 at 50 m a.s.l. to a mean density of 0.83 (SD 1.15) individuals per m2 at 600 m a.s.l. Mean female sternum width was 1.39 mm (SD 0.44) and mean male sternum width was 1.40 mm (SD 0.22). No evidence for Bergmann or converse Bergmann clines was found. At increasing altitudes, sex ratios became increasingly female-biased with populations at 600 m a.s.l. comprising 0.87 (SD 0.28) females, on a proportional basis, possibly as a result of resource limitation and an increase in the prevalence of sexual cannibalism. The food web implications of this study are highlighted.

Keywords

AraneaeBergman body size clineMarion IslandMyro kerguelenensisresource limitation
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , 06 February 2012 , pp. 15 - 22
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abraham, S., Somers, M.J.Chown, S.L. 2011. Seasonal, altitudinal and host-related variation in the abundance of aphids (Insecta, Hemiptera) on sub-Antarctic Marion Island. Polar Biology, 34, 513–520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andrewartha, H.G.Birch, L.C. 1954. The distribution and abundance of animals. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 793 pp.Google Scholar
Arnold, R.J.Convey, P. 1998. The life history of the diving beetle, Lancetes angusticollis (Curtis) (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae), on sub-Antarctic South Georgia. Polar Biology, 20, 153–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barendse, J.Chown, S.L. 2001. Abundance and seasonality of mid-altitude fellfield arthropods from Marion Island. Polar Biology, 24, 73–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanckenhorn, W.U.Demont, M. 2004. Bergmann and converse Bergmann latitudinal clines in arthropods: two ends of a continuum? Integrative and Comparative Biology, 44, 413–424.Google Scholar
Burger, A.E. 1978. Terrestrial invertebrates: a food resource for birds at Marion Island. South African Journal of Antarctic Research, 8, 87–99.Google Scholar
Chen, Z.Q., Jiao, X.G., Wu, J., Chen, J.Liu, F.X. 2010. Effects of copulation temperature on female reproductive output and longevity in the wolf spider Pardosa astrigera (Araneae: Lycosidae). Journal of Thermal Biology, 35, 125–128.Google Scholar
Chown, S.L. 1992. A preliminary analysis of weevil assemblages in the sub-Antarctic: local and regional patterns. Journal of Biogeography, 19, 87–98.Google Scholar
Chown, S.L.Block, W. 1997. Comparative nutritional ecology of grass-feeding in a sub-Antarctic beetle: the impact of introduced species on Hydromedion sparsutum from South Georgia. Oecologia, 111, 216–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chown, S.L.Convey, P. 2007. Spatial and temporal variability across life's hierarchies in the terrestrial Antarctic. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, B362, 2307–2331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chown, S.L.Froneman, P.W., eds. 2008. The Prince Edward Islands: land-sea interactions in a changing ecosystem. Stellenbosch: Sun Press, 450 pp.Google Scholar
Chown, S.L.Gaston, K.J. 2010. Body size variation in insects: a macroecological perspective. Biological Reviews, 85, 139–169.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chown, S.L.Klok, C.J. 2003. Altitudinal body size clines: latitudinal effects associated with changing seasonality. Ecography, 26, 445–455.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chown, S.L.Smith, V.R. 1993. Climate change and the short-term impact of feral house mice at the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands. Oecologia, 96, 508–516.Google Scholar
Chown, S.L., Slabber, S., McGeoch, M.A., Janion, C.Leinaas, H.P. 2007. Phenotypic plasticity mediates climate change responses among invasive and indigenous arthropods. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B274, 2531–2537.Google Scholar
Convey, P., Chown, S.L., Wasley, J.Bergstrom, D.M. 2006. Life history traits. In Bergstrom, D.M., Convey, P. & Huiskes, A.H.L., eds. Trends in Antarctic terrestrial and limnetic ecosystems. Dordrecht: Springer, 101–127.Google Scholar
Cohen, J.E., Jonsson, T.Carpenter, S.R. 2003. Ecological community description using the food web, species abundance, and body size. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 100, 1781–1786.Google Scholar
Cohen, J.E., Jonsson, T., Müller, C.B., Godfray, H.C.J.Savage, V.M. 2005. Body sizes of hosts and parasitoids in individual feeding relationships. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102, 684–689.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davies, K.F.Melbourne, B.A. 1999. Statistical models of invertebrate distribution on Macquarie Island: a tool to assess climate change and local human impacts. Polar Biology, 21, 240–250.Google Scholar
Davies, L. 1972. Two Amblystogenium species (Col. Carabidae) co-existing on the subantarctic Possession Island, Crozet Islands. Entomologica Scandinavica, 3, 275–286.Google Scholar
Ernsting, G., Brandjes, G.J., Block, W.Isaaks, J.A. 1999. Life-history consequences of predation for a subantarctic beetle: evaluating the contribution of direct and indirect effects. Journal of Animal Ecology, 68, 741–752.Google Scholar
Frenot, Y., Chown, S.L., Whinam, J., Selkirk, P.M., Convey, P., Skotnicki, M.Bergstrom, D.M. 2005. Biological invasions in the Antarctic: extent, impacts and implications. Biological Reviews, 80, 45–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gabriel, A.G.A., Chown, S.L., Barendse, J., Marshall, D.J., Mercer, R.D., Pugh, P.J.A.Smith, V.R. 2001. Biological invasions of Southern Ocean islands: the Collembola of Marion Island as a test of generalities. Ecography, 24, 421–430.Google Scholar
Hagstrum, D.W. 1971. Carapace width as a tool for evaluating the rate of development of spiders in the laboratory and field. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 64, 757–760.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haussmann, N.S., Boelhouwers, J.C.Mcgeoch, M.A. 2009. Fine scale variability in soil frost dynamics surrounding cushions of the dominant vascular plant species (Azorella selago) on sub-Antarctic Marion Island. Geografiska Annaler, 91A, 257–286.Google Scholar
Hogg, I.D., Cary, S.C., Convey, P., Newsham, K.K., O'Donnell, A.G., Adams, B.J., Aislabie, J., Frati, F., Stevens, M.I.Wall, D.H. 2006. Biotic interactions in Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems: are they a factor? Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 38, 3035–3040.Google Scholar
Høye, T.T., Hammel, J.U., Fuchs, T.Toft, S. 2009. Climate change and sexual size dimorphism in an Arctic spider. Biology Letters, 5, 542–544.Google Scholar
Johnson, J.B.Omland, K.S. 2004. Model selection in ecology and evolution. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 19, 101–108.Google Scholar
Jumbam, K., Terblanche, J.S., Deere, J.A., Somers, M.Chown, S.L. 2008. Critical thermal limits and their responses to acclimation in two sub-Antarctic spiders: Myro kerguelenensis and Prinerigone vagans. Polar Biology, 31, 215–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khoza, T.T., Dippenaar, S.M.Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S. 2005. The biodiversity and species composition of the spider community of Marion Island, a recent survey (Arachnida: Araneae). Koedoe, 48, 103–107.Google Scholar
Kruse, P.D., Toft, S.Sunderland, K.D. 2008. Temperature and prey capture: opposite relationships in two predator taxa. Ecological Entomology, 33, 305–312.Google Scholar
Lawrence, K.L.Wise, D.H. 2000. Spider predation on forest-floor Collembola and evidence for indirect effects on decomposition. Pedobiologia, 44, 33–39.Google Scholar
Lawrence, R.F. 1971. Araneida. In Van Zinderen Bakker, E.M., Winterbottom, J.M.&Dyer, R.A., eds. Marion and Prince Edward Island: report on the South African biological and geological expedition 1965–1966. Cape Town: A.A. Balkema, 301–313.Google Scholar
Lee, J.E., Janion, C., Marais, E., van Vuuren, B.J.Chown, S.L. 2009. Physiological tolerances account for range limits and abundance structure in an invasive slug. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B276, 1459–1468.Google Scholar
Lee, J.E., Slabber, S., van Vuuren, B.J., van Noort, S.Chown, S.L. 2007. Colonisation of sub-Antarctic Marion Island by a non-indigenous aphid parasitoid Aphidius matricariae (Hymenoptera, Braconidae). Polar Biology, 30, 1195–1201.Google Scholar
Legendre, P.Legendre, L. 1998. Numerical ecology. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 853 pp.Google Scholar
Le Roux, P.C.McGeoch, M.A. 2008a. Spatial variation in plant interactions across a severity gradient in the sub-Antarctic. Oecologia, 155, 831–844.Google Scholar
Le Roux, P.C.McGeoch, M.A. 2008b. Changes in climate extremes, variability and signature on sub-Antarctic Marion Island. Climatic Change, 86, 309–329.Google Scholar
Mercer, R.D., Gabriel, A.G.A., Barendse, J., Marshall, D.J.Chown, S.L. 2001. Invertebrate body sizes from Marion Island. Antarctic Science, 13, 135–143.Google Scholar
Peters, R.H. 1983. The ecological implications of body size. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 344 pp.Google Scholar
Pugh, P.J.A. 2004. Biogeography of spiders (Araneae: Arachnida) on the islands of the Southern Ocean. Journal of Natural History, 38, 1461–1487.Google Scholar
Quinn, G.P.Keough, M.J. 2002. Experimental design and data analysis for biologists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 537 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
R Development Core Team. 2010. R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing, http://www.R-project.org.Google Scholar
Smith, V.R. 2008. Energy flow and nutrient cycling in the Marion island terrestrial system: 30 years on. Polar Record, 44, 211–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, V.R., Avenant, N.Chown, S.L. 2002. The diet and impact of house mice of a sub-Antarctic island. Polar Biology, 25, 703–715.Google Scholar
Smith, V.R., Steenkamp, M.Gremmen, N.J.M. 2001. Terrestrial habitats on sub-Antarctic Marion Island: their vegetation, edaphic attributes, distribution and response to climate change. South African Journal of Botany, 67, 641–654.Google Scholar
Vargas, A.J. 2000. Effects of fertilizer addition and debris removal on leaf-litter spider communities at two elevations. Journal of Arachnology, 28, 79–89.Google Scholar
Warren, M., McGeoch, M.A., Nicolson, S.W.Chown, S.L. 2006. Body size patterns in Drosophila inhabiting a mesocosm: interactive effects of spatial variation in temperature and abundance. Oecologia, 149, 245–255.Google Scholar
Wise, D.H. 2006. Cannibalism, food limitation, intraspecific competition and the regulation of spider populations. Annual Review of Entomology, 51, 441–465.Google Scholar
Ysnel, F.Ledoux, J.-C. 1988. Donnees sur le cycle biologique de quelques araignees des terres Australes Francaises (Kerguelen, Crozet). Bulletin de la Société scientifique de Bretagne, 59, 209–221.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Lee Supplementary Tables

Lee Supplementary Tables

Download Lee Supplementary Tables(File)
File 278 KB