Abstract:
Spiders are a diverse and ecologically important order of invertebrates, and despite a relatively extensive understanding of spider taxonomy in New Zealand, we know comparatively little about the ecology of our native spider fauna. Here, we characterise the ground-dwelling spider community within several native forest fragments in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. Spiders were examined from invertebrate pitfall traps collected annually between 1998 and 2015 as part of the restoration of Boundary Stream Mainland Island. We found a level of spider diversity comparable to other native New Zealand ecosystems, though the extensive sampling regimen was estimated to have captured only 77% of the true diversity at the sites. The spider community exhibited marked annual variation in abundance and diversity, which differed between species. A number of interesting elements of the spider fauna in this region was revealed, highlighting the benefits of carrying out routine ecological surveys of invertebrate communities.