Temporal changes in spider communities
Many scientific studies, including those from the Biodiversity-Exploratories, have now shown that insect populations have declined in recent decades. While “insect decline” has been relatively well studied, spiders (Araneae) have been little studied in this respect.
The aim is to compare all spiders (and possibly other arthropods) between the 2015 and the current samples and to document changes in diversity and community composition.
Comprehensive sampling using a biocenometer was already done on the grassland sites of the Biodiversity Exploratories in 2015. In principle, a biocenometer is an oversized vacuum cleaner that is used to extract all arthropods from a defined area in order to subsequently count and identify them. The sampling in 2015 focused on other taxa, the spiders were not processed. As part of this cooperation project, the sampling was now repeated.
Scientific assistants
