Spider family composition and species richness patterns in two savannah habitats along the eastern coastal plain of Africa

The spider faunas of two savannah reserves along the eastern coastal plain of Africa are compared. Species richness was higher in the tropical area, with 493 species (54 families) from Mkomazi Game Reserve, Tanzania. Species richness was also high in the subtropics, with a total of 431 species (46 families) recorded from Ndumo Game Reserve, South Africa. Spider community structure was remarkably similar in the two reserves, with Salticidae, Gnaphosidae, Thomisidae, Theridiidae and Araneidae the most species‐rich families in both reserves. Eleven of the fourteen most species rich families were the same. A similar proportion of families were represented by singleton and doubleton species. A genus‐ and species‐level comparison of ten spider families indicates that while there is considerable overlap in the generic composition of the reserves (Sorensen’s Quotient of similarity: all >0.650 except Linyphiidae, 0.166; Corinnidae, 0.500) there is little overlap between the species occurring in the two sites (0.000–0.571), which was particularly evident in the more species‐rich families. A comparison of diversity of 57 families in each reserve with the spider biodiversity in the two sub‐regions suggests that local biodiversity is largely determined by regional biogeographical influences rather than local ecological factors.