Association of spiders and lichen on Robben Island, South Africa: a case report

Authors

  • A. Mukherjee
  • B. Wilske
  • R.A. Navarro
  • A. Dippenaar-Schoeman
  • L.G. Underhill

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o2295.815-9

Abstract

The present study is a firstrecord of spider occurrence on Robben Island, South Africa. Some habitats were rich in lichens. As we know, lichens enhance wildlife habitat in less direct ways. The objective of the study was to examine the potential importance of lichens in enriching spider diversity and abundance. A total of 260 spiders (170 from lichens and 90 from bush) were collected following the visual search method over one year. Seasonal trends in overall species richness and abundance indicated that the relative density of spiders was greater in lichens than in bushes. The result suggests that habitat structure, such as branch size and epiphytic lichen abundance, can be an explanation for the greater number of spiders in lichen-rich patches of the island.

Author Biographies

A. Mukherjee

Dr. AeshitA Mukherjee is an ecologist and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

B. Wilske

Dr. BurkhArD Wilske is an ecophysiologist, botanist having expertise in VOC and carbon budgeting. He is presently a postdoctoral fellow at the Bio-Geosciences Institute, University of Calgary, Canada.

R.A. Navarro

rene A. nAvArro is an ecologist having expertise in satellite data analysis and, presently working on spiders at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

A. Dippenaar-Schoeman

Prof. Ansie DiPPenAAr-schoeMAn is an arachnologist and a well-known taxonomist, presently a scientist at ARC, Plant protection, Pretoria, SA.

L.G. Underhill

Prof. l.G. unDerhill is a statistician, expertise in employing statistics to ecology. Presently he is the Director of Avian Demography Unit, at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

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Published

26-04-2010

Issue

Vol 2, No 4 (2010)

Section

Communications

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