Life in harsh environments: carabid and spider trait types and functional diversity on a debris‐covered glacier and along its foreland |
| |
| Authors: | MAURO GOBBI FRANCESCO BALLARIN MATTIA BRAMBILLA CHIARA COMPOSTELLA MARCO ISAIA GIANALBERTO LOSAPIO CHIARA MAFFIOLETTI ROBERTO SEPPI DUCCIO TAMPUCCI MARCO CACCIANIGA |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Section of Invertebrate Zoology and Hydrobiology, MUSE ‐ Museo delle Scienze, Trento, Italy;2. Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;3. Section of Vertebrate Zoology, MUSE ‐ Museo delle Scienze, Trento, Italy;4. Settore Biodiversità e Aree Protette, Fondazione Lombardia per l'Ambiente, Seveso, Italy;5. Department of Earth Sciences “Ardito Desio”, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy;6. Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy;7. Departement of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland;8. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Pavia, Italy;9. Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy |
| |
| Abstract: | 1. Patterns of species richness and species assemblage composition of ground‐dwelling arthropods in primary successions along glacier forelands are traditionally described using a taxonomic approach. On the other hand, the functional trait approach could ensure a better characterisation of their colonisation strategies in these types of habitat. 2. The functional trait approach was applied to investigate patterns of functional diversity and life‐history traits of ground beetles and spiders on an alpine debris‐covered glacier and along its forefield in order to describe their colonisation strategies. 3. Ground beetles and spiders were sampled at different successional stages, representing five stages of deglaciation. 4. The results show that the studied glacier hosts ground beetle and spider assemblages that are mainly characterised by the following traits: walking colonisers, ground hunters and small‐sized species. These traits are typical of species living in cold, wet, and gravelly habitats. The diversity of functional traits in spiders increased along the succession, and in both carabids and spiders, life‐history traits follow the ‘addition and persistence model’. Accordingly, there is no turnover but there is an addition of new traits and a variation in their proportion within each species assemblage along the succession. The distribution of ground beetles and spiders along the glacier foreland and on the glacier seems to be driven by dispersal ability and foraging strategy. 5. The proposed functional approach improves knowledge of the adaptive strategies of ground‐dwelling arthropods colonising glacier surfaces and recently deglaciated terrains, which represent landforms quickly changing due to global warming. |
| |
| Keywords: | Araneae Carabidae colonisation dispersal power hunting strategies turnover |
|
|
