Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) in different urban green areas: an analysis of their taxonomic and functional diversity

In cities, habitats classified as green areas are especially important for the conservation of species. Therefore, understanding how different biological groups are influenced by differences in the structures of green areas is relevant when planning urban environments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of different types of green areas to the taxonomic and functional diversities of ants and spiders and to discuss the importance of green area management for both groups. We sampled three categories of green areas: forest fragments (40 sample points), vacant lots (20) and gardens/backyards (20), where we evaluated the taxonomic and functional richness and composition of both groups of organisms. At each sample point, we used several techniques, such as: entomological umbrella, Winkler extractors and manual collection. We sampled 149 ant species and 97 spider species. Our results demonstrate that there are differences in the diversity of ants and spiders, as well as in the number of functional groups of ants between the different types of green areas. As expected, forest fragments are the ones that most contribute to the observed diversity, and our findings highlight the importance of evaluating the biotic influence of green areas at a smaller spatial scale.

在城市中，被归类为绿地的生境对物种保护尤为重要。因此，在规划城市环境时，明确不同生物类群如何受绿地结构差异的影响具有重要意义。本研究旨在评估不同类型绿地对蚁类与蜘蛛类的分类多样性及功能多样性的影响，并探讨绿地管理对这两类生物类群的重要性。我们选取三类绿地开展采样：森林片段生境（40个采样点）、闲置地块（20个采样点）以及花园/后院（20个采样点），并在此三类生境中评估了这两类生物的分类丰富度、功能丰富度及其群落组成。在每个采样点，我们采用了多种采样技术，包括昆虫采样伞、Winkler萃取器以及人工手采法。本次采样共记录蚁类149种、蜘蛛类97种。研究结果显示，不同类型绿地间的蚁类与蜘蛛类多样性存在显著差异，且蚁类功能群数量也存在显著区别。正如预期，森林片段生境对观测到的生物多样性贡献最大；本研究结果也凸显了在更小空间尺度下评估绿地生物影响的重要性。