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Edge effects of three anthropogenic disturbances on spider communities in Alberta’s boreal forest

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Abstract

Increasing fragmentation of forests worldwide by timber and industrial development makes it important to understand the edge effects of common anthropogenic disturbances on forest fauna. We collected ground-active spiders along transects across the edge of logging clearcuts, gravel roads and gas pipelines in the boreal forest of Alberta, sampling on the disturbance (10 m from forest edge), and 10, 45, and 200 m into the forest. We asked whether the three disturbances were associated with edge effects on spider communities, and whether the extent of their associated edge effects were equivalent. The spider community at the edges of clearcuts was distinct from interior and on-disturbance communities 10 m into the forest from the clearcut edge, showing an edge effect of between 10 and 45 m from clearcut edges, while no edge effects were apparent at road and pipeline edges. Edge effects therefore differ at linear and non-linear openings in the boreal forest, which suggests that small linear openings may be associated with minimal edge effects compared to large polygonal forest openings. This result has important consequences for forest management, where clearcuts and other non-linear openings are likely to cause edge effects on spider communities that are between 10 and 45 m in their extent. The small size of clearcuts as practiced in the public forests of Canada, and their dense and broad application across the landscape, makes this edge effect of broad spatial significance in protecting biodiversity in managed landscapes.

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Acknowledgments

Many thanks to those who assisted with the identification of spider specimens (Jaime Pinzon, Dr. Rob Bennett, Joey Slowik and Dr. Wayne Maddison), fieldwork and arthropod sorting (Dayna Chetek, Stu Crawford, Amy Darling, Portia Lloyd, Sierra Love, Natasha Myers, April Matisz, Chelsea Matisz, and Gennifer Meldrum). We also thank Dr. John Swann for collections support; Canbra Foods of Lethbridge for materials donations; and the University of Calgary Faculty of Graduate Studies, Shell Canada Limited, Husky Oil, Alberta Ingenuity, and NSERC Discovery Grants for funding support. Shell Canada Limited and Husky Oil funded the bulk of the research.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada

    Virginia A. Kowal & Ralph V. Cartar

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  1. Virginia A. Kowal
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  2. Ralph V. Cartar
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Correspondence to Virginia A. Kowal.

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Table 6 Spider species list, sorted alphabetically by family
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Kowal, V.A., Cartar, R.V. Edge effects of three anthropogenic disturbances on spider communities in Alberta’s boreal forest. J Insect Conserv 16, 613–627 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-011-9446-z

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