Distribution and trophic dynamics of riparian tetragnathid spiders in a large river system
Paradzayi Tagwireyi A B and S. Mažeika P. Sullivan A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
B Corresponding author. Present address: Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Zimbabwe, Box MP 167, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe. Email: tagwireyi.1@buckeyemail.osu.edu
Marine and Freshwater Research 67(3) 309-318 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF14335
Submitted: 23 October 2014 Accepted: 24 December 2014 Published: 22 June 2015
Abstract
Development and agriculture are increasingly encroaching into riparian areas, with largely unknown effects on nearshore arthropods, which are important components of linked aquatic–terrestrial food webs. To assess the environmental determinants of the distribution and trophic dynamics of riparian spiders of the family Tetragnathidae, we characterised riparian habitat, collected emergent aquatic insects, and surveyed spiders in developed and rural landscapes of the Scioto River system, Ohio, USA, which provided a range of riparian land cover, nearshore vegetation types and habitat complexity. We also estimated the trophic position (TP) of Tetragnathidae and the proportion of energetic and nutritional subsidies derived from benthic algae (EBA) using naturally abundant carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stable isotopes. Model-selection results revealed that tetragnathid spider density (1.57–3.80 individuals m–1) was more sensitive to differences in overhanging vegetation than to those in aquatic food resources (i.e. emergent aquatic insects). Tetragnathidae TP, which averaged 3.16 across all 12 study reaches (range: 2.35–3.98), was largely driven by canopy density, shoreline shape, percentage overhanging vegetation and emergent-insect density. Emergent-insect density was the strongest driver of tetragnathid spider EBA (0.04–0.54, µ = 0.24). Our study reinforced the notion that riparian spiders ecologically link aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. In particular, our results further current understanding of the mechanisms affecting riparian spider distribution and trophic dynamics, particularly in the context of larger stream and river systems, given that the propensity of related research has occurred in small streams.
Additional keywords: aquatic–terrestrial linkages, emergent aquatic insects, stable isotopes.
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