An Experimental Study of the Role of Spiders as Predators in a Forest Litter Community. Part 1
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TL;DR
Data indicate that predation by spiders is an important subtractive process acting on populations of centipedes and collembola, known prey organisms of spiders, in a maple forest litter community.
Abstract
An experiment was designed to investigate the influence of spiders, as predator, upon other organisms in a maple forest litter community. A large number of spiders was removed from an enclosed (experimental) area; spiders were allowed to remain in 1 enclosed and 2 open areas (controls). Following spider removal, centipedes and collembola, known prey organisms of spiders, were at consistently higher densities in the experimental area than in the 3 controls during a 10 week period. Millipedes, not taken by spiders, were not consistently higher in the experimental area. These data indicate that predation by spiders is an important subtractive process acting on populations of centipedes and collembola.