03748naa a2200145 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001910000200006024501400008026000090022052030240022970000130325370000150326677303210328113150462008-10-06       2008    bl uuuu     u00u1 u    #d1 aSCHEUERMANN, L.  aMonitoring spider diversity to assess the potential of secondary forests for biodiversity conservation in the southern Mata Atlântica.  c2008  aThe Atlantic Rainforest is one of the most threatened forest ecosystems worldwide, since it is situated in the densely populated coastal region of Brazil, where over 170 million people live. Despite its high degree of destruction the forest remnants still comprise a high diversity in animals and plants. Since over 90 % of the original forest cover have been destroyed secondary forests gain importance for conservation. However, so far not many studies have evaluated their potential as a substitute habitat for endangered species and their ability to regenerate the diversity and functionality of the primary forests. The Brazilian-German project SOLOBIOMA has the aim to classify secondary forests by comparison with old growth through their soil fauna diversity. The project uses a multi-taxon approach, which means that several invertebrate taxa like earthworms, beetles, ants and spiders are sampled and evaluated. As part of this approach, we assess the species richness and diversity of the near-ground spider assemblage in three different successional stages of secondary forest and old-growth in the southern Mata Atlântica in Paraná. Altogether 24 study sites are situated in the two private protected areas: ?Reserva Natural do Rio Cachoeira? (Antonina, Paraná) and the ?Reserva Natural da Serra do Itaqui? (Guaraquecaba, Paraná) of the Brazilian NGO SPVS. Spiders were sampled once in each site by a standardized sampling protocol including time-based nocturnal looking-up and looking-down and beating of lower vegetation during the day. Additionally 10 pitfall traps were opened for one week in each site. After sampling the spider specimens were sorted to families. The resulting data were than ordinated with a multivariate method (PCA). First results show a relatively good differentiation of the forest stages already on the family level of identification, with exception of the youngest herbaceous stage. The six replicates of this stage do not show a uniform pattern. Ctenidae, Theridiidae, Pholcidae and Pisauridae determine the position of the old growth sites in Cachoeira in the ordination. Although abundant in pastures, lycosids seem not to inhabit the younger and still relatively open forests. Next tasks will be the determination of the specimens to the morphospecies level and the subsequent analysis of the data. Spider species occurences will be correlated with environmental variables like vegetation-structure, local temperature and moisture, to gain more ecological information about the species and to explain the observed patterns. In the end the spider data will be included in an integrative approach with the other arthropod groups to classify the secondary forests through their soil fauna composition. Interactions of the spiders with other arthropod groups and reactions on habitat alteration will be experimentally tested in the field. At the end of the investigation we will provide the field data linked to collection data at the internet portal www.TaxOnline.ufpr.br.1 aRAUB, F.1 aHÖFER, H.  tIn: INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM ON SOIL ZOOLOGY, 15; INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM ON APTERYGOTA, 12., 2008, Curitiba. Biodiversity, conservation and sustainabele management of soil animal: abstracts. Colombo: Embrapa Florestas. Editors: George Gardner Brown; Klaus Dieter Sautter; Renato Marques; Amarildo Pasini. 1 CD-ROM.