Microhabitat selection by wolf spiders and dunnarts
The lesser hairyfooted dunnart (<i>Sminthopsis youngsoni, Dasyuridae</i>) is a generalist marsupial insectivore in arid Australia, but consumes wolf spiders (<i>Lycosa spp., Lycosidae</i>) disproportionately often relative to their availability. This project tested the hypothesis that this disproportionate predation is a product of frequent encounter rates between the interactants due to high overlap in their diets and use of space and time. This data set focuses on overlap in the use of different microhabitats of wolf spiders (<i>Lycosa spp.</i>) and the lesser hairyfooted dunnart (<i>Sminthopsis youngsoni</i>) in the Simpson Desert, southwestern Queensland Australia. Microhabitat use was determined by estimating the percentage cover of seven microhabitat variables and distance to nearest cover along trails left by individuals of each species group and a randomly orientated (control) trail for each actual trail as a measure of the availability of each microhabitat within the local environment. Trail length was also recorded and data was collected across 16 trapping grids at Main Camp during July and October (winter and Spring) in 2017. Differences in microhabitat use between trail types (actual vs control) and species (lycosids vs dunnarts) were assessed using nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and permutational analyses of variance (PERMANOVA). These analyses were performed using this data.
Simple
Identification info
- Date (Creation)
- 2016-07-01
- Date (Publication)
- 2017-11-29
- Date (Revision)
- 2024-05-12
- Edition
- 1
Identifier
Publisher
Author
University of Adelaide - Potter, Tamara ()
Waite Road, Waite, South Australia, 5064, Australia
Waite
South Australia
5064
Australia
Co-author
University of Sydney - Greenville, Aaron ()
City Road, Camperdown, New South Wales, 2050, Australia
Camperdown
New South Wales
2050
Australia
Co-author
University of Sydney - Dickman, Chris (Professor in Terrestrial Ecology)
City Road, Camperdown, New South Wales, 2050, Australia
Camperdown
New South Wales
2050
Australia
- Website
- https://www.tern.org.au/
- Purpose
- This is part of a project titled, "Exploring the interaction between the lesser hairyfooted dunnart and lycosids in the Simpson Desert". The lesser hairyfooted dunnart (<i>Sminthopsis youngsoni</i>) is a common generalist insectivore in arid Australia that consumes wolf spiders (<i>Lycosa spp.</i>) disproportionately often relative to their availability. This study aimed to uncover the underlying mechanisms that drive this observed pattern of selective predation.
- Credit
- We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
- Status
- Completed
Point of contact
University of Adelaide - Potter, Tamara ()
Waite Road, Waite, South Australia, 5064, Australia
Waite Road
Waite
South Australia
5064
Australia
- Topic category
-
- Biota
Extent
- Description
- The study was undertaken around Main Camp site on Ethabuka Reserve, north-western Simpson Desert, Queensland. IBRA region: Simpson Desert Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields
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S
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Temporal extent
- Time period
- 2016-07-01 2016-10-23
- Maintenance and update frequency
- Not planned
- GCMD Science Keywords
- ANZSRC Fields of Research
- TERN Parameter Vocabulary
- QUDT Units of Measure
- GCMD Horizontal Resolution Ranges
- GCMD Temporal Resolution Ranges
- Australian Plant Name Index
- Australian Faunal Directory
- Keywords (Discipline)
-
- Arid ecology
- Behavioural Ecology
- Predator-Prey Interactions
- <i>Sminthopsis youngsoni</i>
- <i>Lycosa spp.</i>
Resource constraints
- Use limitation
- The Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license allows others to copy, distribute, display, and create derivative works provided that they credit the original source and any other nominated parties. Details are provided at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
- File name
- 88x31.png
- File description
- CCBy Logo from creativecommons.org
- File type
- png
- Title
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
- Alternate title
- CC-BY
- Edition
- 4.0
- Access constraints
- License
- Use constraints
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
- TERN services are provided on an "as-is" and "as available" basis. Users use any TERN services at their discretion and risk. They will be solely responsible for any damage or loss whatsoever that results from such use including use of any data obtained through TERN and any analysis performed using the TERN infrastructure. <br />Web links to and from external, third party websites should not be construed as implying any relationships with and/or endorsement of the external site or its content by TERN. <br /><br />Please advise any work or publications that use this data via the online form at https://www.tern.org.au/research-publications/#reporting
- Other constraints
- Please cite this dataset as {Author} ({PublicationYear}). {Title}. {Version, as appropriate}. Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network. Dataset. {Identifier}.
- Other constraints
- (C)2017 University of Sydney. Rights owned by University of Sydney.
Resource constraints
- Classification
- Unclassified
Distribution Information
Distribution Information
Distributor
Distributor
- Distribution format
-
- NetCDF
- OnLine resource
- Potter_Dunnartlycosid_microhabitat_data
Distribution Information
Distribution Information
Distributor
Distributor
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
Building 1019, 80 Meiers Rd, Indooroopilly, QLD, Australia, 4068
Indooroopilly
QLD
4068
Australia
- Distribution format
-
- OnLine resource
- ro-crate-metadata.json
Resource lineage
- Statement
- Visual estimation of percentage cover of microhabitat attributes: [1] Animal Trapping Individual <i>S.youngsoni</i> were livecaptured in pitfall traps on 16 trapping grids located 0.62 km apart at Main Camp during July and October 2016. Each grid comprised 36 pitfall traps in a 6 × 6 formation with traps set 20 m apart. Grids encompassed all dune zones (crest, side and swale) and covered 1 ha. A trap consisted of a PVC pipe 60 cm deep × 16 cm diameter, dug flush with the sand surface and overlain by a 5 m long, 300 mm high drift fence of aluminium flywire to increase trapping efficiency. Captured individuals were identified, weighed, sexed and reproductive status checked, and then given a unique ear clip. Lycosid spiders were collected opportunistically from vertebrate pitfall traps (see above) or through active searches over multiple nights around Main Camp. [2] Tracking of Individuals To quantify the degree of microhabitat selectivity displayed by S. youngsoni, movement patterns of captured individuals were quantified using spools and lines (n = 26, 15 in July and 11 in October 2016). Prior to release, a 2ply cotton bobbin spool (Coats Australia Pty, Sydney, Australia) was secured using nontoxic cyanoacrylate glue (Selley's Quick Fix superglue) and positioned so as not to impede head or leg movement. Spools were adjusted to weigh ~6% of individual body mass (mean ± SE; 0.65 ± 0.18 g) and secured with tape. Individuals were released with spools within 3 h of dusk. Prior to release, a 3 × 3 mm square of silver reflective tape was attached to the opisthosoma of each lycosid using nontoxic cyanoacrylate glue to increase the detectability of spiders when tracking them in low light conditions. Spiders were released near their capture site between 20:00 h and 23:00 h around Main Camp, and followed and observed under red torchlight at a distance of 23 m to minimise disturbance. A flag was deployed at the start of each spider's trail and then at ~2.5 m intervals to record the path taken, with a total of 12 flags deployed per trail. Spiders were observed for ~1 h or until all 12 flags were deployed. [3] Microhabitat Assessments The following day, spool lines and spider trails were followed and the cumulative distance travelled by each released animal measured to the nearest 0.1 m using a tape measure. Additionally, percentage cover of seven different microhabitat types was estimated visually using a 0.5 × 0.5 m quadrat at fixed 2.5 m intervals along the spool trails. These microhabitats were: live spinifex, dead spinifex, ground cover, shrub cover, dead wood, all other vegetation, and bare ground. In order to assess the degree of microhabitat selectivity exhibited by both species, a single control trail for each actual trail left by an individual was also scored as a measure of the availability of each microhabitat within the local environment. Control trails were set to be the same length as actual trails and microhabitat scoring was consistent with that employed for tracked trails, thus presenting a standardised method for comparison between the two trail types.
- Hierarchy level
- Dataset
Reference System Information
- Reference system identifier
- EPSG/EPSG:3577
- Reference system type
- Geodetic Geographic 2D
Metadata
- Metadata identifier
-
urn:uuid/b8c8a2ac-f9e2-4021-a82d-2616be4b9019
- Title
- TERN GeoNetwork UUID
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
Point of contact
Type of resource
- Resource scope
- Dataset
- Metadata linkage
-
https://geonetwork.tern.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/b8c8a2ac-f9e2-4021-a82d-2616be4b9019
Point-of-truth metadata URL
- Date info (Creation)
- 2022-10-25T00:00:00
- Date info (Revision)
- 2024-05-12T00:00:00
Metadata standard
- Title
- ISO 19115-1:2014/AMD 1:2018 Geographic information - Metadata - Fundamentals
- Edition
- 1
Metadata standard
- Title
- ISO/TS 19115-3:2016
- Edition
- 1.0
Metadata standard
- Title
- ISO/TS 19157-2:2016
- Edition
- 1.0
- Title
- Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-3:2016 and ISO 19157-2:2016
- Date (published)
- 2021
- Edition
- 1.0
Identifier
Overviews
Spatial extent
N
S
E
W
Provided by
Associated resources
Not available