Seeing the forest for the trees: an assessment of stand-level variation in arboreal spider (Araneae) assemblages in western Newfoundland, Canada

Abstract Spiders (Araneae) are an abundant and diverse arthropod group that serve important ecosystem functions in boreal forests. Several hundred species across boreal Canada are prey for vertebrates and invertebrates. Spiders are also generalist predators that likely contribute to pest control. Our understanding of spider assemblages, particularly of the arboreal community, is minimal at the stand level in many habitats across Canada. Habitat-specific factors like connectivity, microclimate, and neighbour effects can substantially influence the structure of ecological communities. Well-replicated landscape-scale experimental designs enable us to better understand the structure of arboreal spider communities. Here, we employed beat-sheeting to characterise spider assemblages on balsam fir trees (Pinaceae) from the three most common stand types found in the boreal: coniferous, deciduous, and mixedwood. Fir trees in deciduous stands had greater spider abundance than did the trees in coniferous or mixedwood stands. Neither species diversity nor composition differed significantly among the three stand types. Our results suggest that spiders likely do not recognise “the forest for the trees.”