Effects of agricultural landscape habitat types on spider community structure and the influencing factors in Taihang Mountain

Ground-dwelling spiders were collected using pitfall traps from five different habitats (walnut grove, maize field, apple-peony intercropping orchard, secondary forest, and flower belt) to explore the effects of various habitats on the distribution of spiders in the agricultural landscape of Taihang, Wu'an City mountain area. The distribution of spider diversity and their correlation with the local habitat factors were analyzed. The results showed that walnut grove conserved significantly higher Shannon-Wiener diversity of spiders than the other four habitats. The spider richness was significantly higher in walnut grove, secondary forest, and flower belt than in apple-peony intercropping orchard and maize field; although, apple-peony intercropping orchard and flower belt significantly conserved spider abundance more than the other three habitats. A decrease in spider abundance was due to the field disturbance; however, the spider richness increased with increasing of vegetation complexity, while there was a negative correlation between spider abundance and the vegetation structure complexity. Moreover, the abundance of spiders increased with an increase in the understory litters. Understory litter was the most important factor which determined the spider composition; spider assemblage composition was homogeneous in maize fields, apple-peony intercropping orchard, and flower belts, whereas they were heterogeneous in walnut groves and natural forests. The results of this study indicated that walnut groves, apple-peony intercropping orchard, and intercropping flower with chestnut in the transition zone between agricultural landscape and natural landscape could contribute to spider conservation. Factors of different habitats had different relationships with different spider communities; for example, the Lycosidae prefers the apple-peony intercropping orchard and the flower belt with significant human interference. Therefore, the production management should combine the unique habitat conditions to conduct reasonable protection and efficient utilization of the corresponding spiders. Our results provide guidance for the management and biodiversity conservation of agricultural habitat in the study area.