Epigeic Spiders from Lowland Oak Woodlands in the South Moravia Region (Czech Republic)

Abstract

This paper presents spider faunistics from abandoned coppice oak forest stands located along the South Moravia region. Spiders were collected from May to July 2012 by pitfall trapping at eight different localities. We collected 1945 adult spiders representing 20 families, 53 genera, and 90 species. More than one-third of all the species are known to be xerothermophilous with ecological restrictions to open and partly shaded habitats such as forest-steppe and sparse forests which belong to endangered habitats along central Europe. The most abundant species were Pardosa alacris, P. lugubris and Arctosa lutetiana from the family Lycosidae. In the surveyed area, 24 species were found listed in the Red List of Threatened Species in the Czech Republic (CR – 1 species, EN – 2 species, VU – 15 species, LC – 6 species). In general, we discovered a substantially diversified spider community with a large presence of rare and endangered species characteristic for open and xeric habitats.