Ecology of web‐building spiders at Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica: A preliminary study

Abstract

Abstract Censuses of web‐building spiders were taken in 10 × 1 × 2 meter transects at Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. Webs were grouped into orb webs and sheet webs, and six web structure parameters were measured: Web height; web area; web angle; number of supports connecting web to vegetation; percent cover of vegetation above the web; number of radii of orb webs. A comparison was made between a relatively undisturbed primary forest and a fallow, treeless field, constituting a highly perturbed system. There were more webs in the fallow field, both during the day and at night. There were also more sheet webs than orb webs in the fallow field, but not in the forest. Significant differences were found between the orb and sheet webs, and in structure of field and forest webs, particularly in terms of web area and angle. These findings have implications in arachnology, theoretical ecology, and applied ecology.