Functional diversity of epigeal spiders in the olive grove agroecosystem in northeastern Portugal: a comparison between crop and surrounding semi‐natural habitats

• Autor(a) principal: Kubiak, Ketrin
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Pereira, J.A., Tessaro, Dinéia, Santos, Sónia A.P., Benhadi-Marín, Jacinto
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10198/25441
• topic: Diversity; Arachnida; Araneae; Guilds; Semi-natural area; Olive grove; Agroecosystem; Biological control; Olea europaea; Oleaceae; Community structure; Ground-inhabiting spiders

The olive grove agroecosystem (Olea europaea L., Oleaceae) is very important in terms of economy and culture throughout the Mediterranean region. In Trás-os- Montes (Portugal), olive groves are commonly surrounded by semi-natural areas consisting of Mediterranean shrublands. Understanding the role of potential predators of olive pests is crucial to enhancing biological control in sustainable agriculture. This study aimed to investigate the community structure of ground-inhabiting spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) in the olive grove and their surrounding shrublands in Trás-os- Montes. We found that the community of spiders was dominated by ground hunters such as Lycosidae and Gnaphosidae. Lycosidae were more abundant in olive groves than in surrounding shrublands in 2015 only, whereas Gnaphosidae were more abundant in olive groves in both years of the study (2015 and 2016). Hence, the two habitats displayed a low complementarity of spider families. The Mediterranean shrubland areas could act as a reservoir and refuge for potential pest biocontrol agents. Conservation of surrounding semi-natural areas may contribute to the natural limitation of pests exerted by spiders in the olive grove agroecosystem. Nevertheless, further long-time and species-level studies are needed to provide insights into the role of spiders as natural enemies.