Trilikauskas L.A., Novgorodova T.A. 2020. Spiders and harvestmen (Arachnida: Aranei, Opiliones) of the revegetating ash dumps of a combined heat and power plant in Novosibirsk (Russia, West Siberia) // Arthropoda Selecta. Vol.29. No.4: 499–510 [in English], Appendix.
Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals SB RAS (ISEA) Frunze str. 11, Novosibirsk 630091, Russia. E-mail: laimont@mail.ru
doi: 10.15298/arthsel.29.4.14
ABSTRACT. Spider and harvestman taxocens formed on ash dumps of the combined heat and power plant No. 5 in Novosibirsk (55°00¢N, 83°06¢E), at different moisture zones of (non)reclaimed sections, as well as in the birch forest adjoining the ash dump (control), have been studied. A total of 70 spider and five harvestman species occurring in the ash dump are recorded. Of the recorded spiders, Lycosidae, Gnaphosidae and Linyphiidae predominated in the ash dump, particularly the actively moving wolf-spiders that are typical of open grasslands. The dominance structure of ground dwelling spiders is similar between all the studied plots both in summer and autumn, and is typical of natural spider communities. Reclamation accelerates the formation of diverse and complex plant communities which positively impact the spider diversity, but show no or little effect on the dynamic spider density. Soil moisture strongly affected the proportion of gnaphosid spiders in the reclaimed section only. A significant effect of the composition and structure of vegetation on the dynamic population density of both spiders and harvestmen within both sections was recorded in autumn. Harvestmen inhabiting the ash dump are typical of antropogenic landscapes; their species diversity was richer in the non-reclaimed section, while a slightly noticeable increase in the population density was observed in the reclaimed section. In sum, by the 9th year of self-restoration of the ash dump, a diverse spider and harvestman community mainly consisting of grassland species typical of open, warm sunny habitats have been formed, with the dominance structure of the spider taxocens being similar to that of undisturbed communities.
KEY WORDS: Araneae, ash dump, revegetation, soil moisture, taxocen structure.