How to translate text using browser tools
1 April 2013 Spider Diversity in Coffee Agroecosystems: The Influence of Agricultural Intensification and Aggressive Ants
Linda Marín, Ivette Perfecto
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Spiders are a very diverse group of invertebrate predators found in agroecosystems and natural systems. However, spider distribution, abundance, and eventually their ecological function in ecosystems can be influenced by abiotic and biotic factors such as agricultural intensification and dominant ants. Here we explore the influence of both agricultural intensification and the dominant arboreal ant Azteca instabilis on the spider community in coffee agroecosystems in southern Mexico. To measure the influence of the arboreal ant Azteca instabilis (F. Smith) on the spider community inhabiting the coffee layer of coffee agroecosystems, spiders were collected from coffee plants that were and were not patrolled by the ant in sites differing in agricultural intensification. For 2008, generalized linear mixed models showed that spider diversity was affected positively by agricultural intensification but not by the ant. However, results suggested that some spider species were associated with A. instabilis. Therefore, in 2009 we concentrated our research on the effect of A. instabilis on spider diversity and composition. For 2009, generalized linear mixed models show that spider richness and abundance per plant were significantly higher in the presence of A. instabilis. In addition, analyses of visual counts of insects and sticky traps data show that more resources were present in plants patrolled by the ant. The positive effect of A. instabilis on spiders seems to be caused by at least two mechanisms: high abundance of insects and protection against predators.

© 2013 Entomological Society of America
Linda Marín and Ivette Perfecto "Spider Diversity in Coffee Agroecosystems: The Influence of Agricultural Intensification and Aggressive Ants," Environmental Entomology 42(2), 204-213, (1 April 2013). https://doi.org/10.1603/EN11223
Received: 7 September 2011; Accepted: 1 December 2012; Published: 1 April 2013
JOURNAL ARTICLE
10 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
Araneae
Azteca instabilis
Formicidae
predators
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top