Small- to large-scale patterns of ground-dwelling spider (Araneae) diversity across northern Canada

We examined how Arctic spider (Araneae) biodiversity is distributed at multiple spatial scales in Northern Canada using a standardized hierarchical sampling design. We investigated which drivers, environmental or spatial, influence the patterns observed. Spatial patterns of species richness and composition of Arctic spiders were assessed in 12 sites located in Arctic, Subarctic, and North-Boreal regions, across 30 degrees of latitude and 80 degrees of longitude. Variation of diversity was partitioned in relation to multiple environmental and spatial drivers of diversity patterns. Over 23, 000 adult spiders, representing 306 species in 14 families, were collected in Northern Canada, with 107 species (35% of the total species collected) representing new Territorial or Provincial records. Spider diversity was structured at the regional scale across ecoclimatic regions but not with latitude. Longitudinal patterns of spider diversity across Canada may be explained by post-glacial dispersal. ...本研究采用标准化分层抽样设计，探究了加拿大北部地区蜘蛛目（Araneae）北极蜘蛛的生物多样性在多空间尺度下的分布格局。本研究同时解析了环境驱动因子与空间驱动因子对观测到的物种分布格局的影响机制。研究选取了横跨30个纬度、80个经度的北极、亚北极及北部泰加林区域内的12个采样点，对北极蜘蛛的物种丰富度与物种组成的空间分布格局开展了评估。本研究对多样性变异进行了分解，以量化多重环境与空间驱动因子对多样性格局的贡献。本次研究在加拿大北部共采集到超过23000头成体蜘蛛，隶属于14科306种；其中107种（占总采集物种数的35%）为加拿大各领地或省份的新分布记录。蜘蛛多样性的分布格局以生态气候区域为尺度形成分化，而非随纬度梯度发生变化。加拿大境内蜘蛛多样性的经度分布格局，或可通过冰期后扩散事件得到合理解释。……