UC Berkeley

Found in nearly all terrestrial ecosystems, small in size and able to occupy a variety of hunting niches, spiders' consumptive effects on other arthropods can have important impacts for ecosystems. This dissertation describes research into spider populations and their interactions with potential arthropod prey in California's native and non-native grasslands. In meadows found in northern California, native and non-native grassland patches support different functional groups of arthropod predators, sap-feeders, pollinators, and scavengers and arthropod diversity is linked to native plant diversity.

Wandering spiders' ability to forage within the meadow's interior is linked to the distance from the shaded woodland boundary. Native grasses offer a cooler conduit into the meadow interior than non-native annual grasses during midsummer heat. Juvenile spiders in particular, are more abundant in the more structurally complex native dominated areas of the grassland. Potential prey species and abundance differ along the trajectory from woodland boundary to meadow interior and may have consequences for the survival of juvenile spiders that reside primarily near the woodland boundary.

Spiders' ability to influence the eating habits of potential prey species is regulated by temperature and grassland characteristics. In experimental wolf spider enclosures, cooler habitats in which spiders were present evidenced lower herbivory by large chewing invertebrates. Herbivory differed across a gradient of temperature and sunlight but newly restored plants in exposed and warmer soil faced higher rates of herbivory than established plants; herbivory may be better mediated by spider activity in cooler environments.