Spider fauna of semi-dry grasslands on a military training base in Northwest Germany (Münster)

Sascha Buchholz,Volker Hartmann

doi:10.5431/aramit3507

Abstract

The spider fauna of semi-dry grasslands on the military training area of Dorbaum near Munster (North Rhine-Westphalia) was investigated. From 2002 to 2003 a total of 11,194 mature spiders from 141 species and 20 families was caught by pitfall trapping and hand sampling. Among them are 18 species listed in the Red Data Book of North Rhine-Westphalia, four species are rare or previously rarely recorded. Most of the spiders are habitat generalists that extend their occurrence into all types of habitats, while the number of species which are stenotopic to sand habitats is noticeably low (n = 13). The spider data were analysed with Principal Component Analysis (PCA). It is possible to distinguish spider communities of neighbouring forested habitats from species groups of open habitats, but there is no uniform spider community which is characteristic for semi-dry grassland.

Highlights

The spider fauna of semi-dry grasslands on the military training area of Dorbaum near Münster (North Rhine-Westphalia) was investigated
A status of endangerment for North Rhine-Westphalia is given for 18 species: Five species are endangered and one, Euophrys herbigrada, is highly endangered
Panamomops mengei was found in different habitats like dry grassland (PERNER 1997, SCHNITTER et al 2003), marshes and bogs (HIEBSCH 1985, KREUELS & BUCHHOLZ subm.), shores of waters (BUCHSBAUM 1995) and among detritus in various forests

Summary

Introduction

The spider fauna of semi-dry grasslands on the military training area of Dorbaum near Münster (North Rhine-Westphalia) was investigated. Many habitats like dry grassland, heathland and inland dunes are endangered (VERBÜCHELN et al 1999) and contain a large number of specialised and rare animal species (BELLMANN 1997, STEVEN 2004). Half of the 19th century and is under British control today It is periodically used for training (tanks, track vehicles) with different intensities from site to site (STARKMANN et al 1993, GROSSE 1995)

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Discussion

Conclusion