Impact of heathland management intensity on spider biodiversity

Here we analysed the impacts of low (mowing) versus a newly developed high intensity (scarification, i.e. mowing with subsequent moss removal) management practice on spider biodiversity (abundance, taxonomic and functional diversity), as an excellent bioindicator for habitat quality shifts due to environmental change. We sampled spiders at 15 localities, 5 replicates of the two management practices each as well as 5 unmanaged controls in the Lüneburg Heath, Northern Germany, one year after the management was implemented. Pitfall traps were used, set in a transect with 10 m distance between traps. Five traps were set per locality from 03.04.2019-01.04.2020. Additionally, the cover of heather, grass, heather litter and bare soil was visually estimated in a 2 m radius around each trap and the distance to the nearest tree was measured. The sum of all cover classes do not always equal 100%. On the one hand, some cover classes were not used in the paper due to strong correlation with others (e.g. moss cover with bare soil cover) and are not presented here leading to lower values. On the other hand heather cover and heather litter were in some cases counted in the same area where heather letter was found below heather plants.