The Ecology of Northern Spiders

世界上的小生物，包括昆虫和蜘蛛，对我们生态系统的健康至关重要，在加拿大北部尤其重要。这些动物正受到环境变化的影响，包括气候变化。在某些情况下，这些影响在北方最为严重，因此，北方昆虫和蜘蛛的生态学和生物学需要大量的研究关注和支持。蜘蛛是苔原生态系统中最常见的陆生动物之一，它们是食虫鸟类的主要食物来源，在加拿大北部有数百种蜘蛛。我的研究项目将研究北方、亚北极和北极生态系统中的蜘蛛生态学。我的研究将首先试图确定是什么控制了狼蛛的种群，狼蛛是北方最大、数量最多的蜘蛛。控制它们数量的因素，进而影响它们的捕食者（如鸟类）的生物学特性，是未知的。其次，我的研究将收集和确定育空地区从北方寒带到亚北极苔原生态过渡期间灌木栖息蜘蛛的多样性。这种生物多样性评估将增加我们对这种动物的认识，这在加拿大北部从未被量化过。第三，这项研究将试图确定北方最多样化的蜘蛛的生物地理模式- Linyphiidae（片网蜘蛛）。第四，我的研究将建立一个北极食物网，利用蜘蛛作为一个关键的营养节点，因为它们在北方是重要的猎物和捕食者。第五，通过与北方社区的合作，我的研究将有助于在加拿大北部建立第一个蜘蛛监测项目：这个项目将包括所有对北方野生动物感兴趣的人，这个项目将收集有关加拿大北极的关键长期数据。对包括蜘蛛在内的北方动物的生态动态进行基准测试，将有助于加拿大更好地了解其北部地区发生的长期环境变化。

The small creatures of the world, including insects and spiders, are essential to the health of our ecosystems, and are especially important in Canada's north. These animals are being affected by shifts in their environment, including climate change. In some cases, these effects are most acute in the north and as such, the ecology and biology of northern insects and spiders requires significant research attention and support. Spiders are among the most common terrestrial animals to inhabit tundra ecosystems, they represent a key food resource for insectivorous birds, and there are hundreds of spider species occurring in Canada's north. My research program will study the ecology of spiders in northern boreal, sub-Arctic and Arctic ecosystems. My research will first seek to determine what governs populations of wolf spiders, which are the largest and most abundant northern spiders. The factors that govern their populations, which in turn affect the biology of their predators (e.g., birds), is unknown. Second, my research will collect and determine the diversity of shrub-dwelling spiders along the ecological transition from the northern-boreal to the sub-arctic tundra in the Yukon Territory. This biodiversity assessment will increase our knowledge of this fauna, which has never been quantified in northern Canada. Third, the research will seek to determine patterns in the biogeography of the most diverse spiders in the north - the Linyphiidae (sheet-web spiders). Fourth, my research will build an Arctic food-web, using spiders as a key trophic node since they are important as prey and predators in the north. Fifth, through work with northern communities, my research will help to establish the first spider monitoring program across northern Canada: a program that will include all people with an interest in northern wildlife, and a program that will gather critical long-term data about Canada's Arctic. Benchmarking the ecological dynamics of northern animals, including spiders, will help Canada better understand the long-term environmental changes occurring in its northern regions.