Rapid biodiversity assessment of spiders (araneae) in Pulau Ubin and Sungei Buloh wetland reservce.

• Main Author: Yong, Kenny Jin Kheng.
• Other Authors: School of Biological Sciences
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences::Zoology::Invertebrates
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/55048
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

In continuation of ecological monitoring in Pulau Ubin and Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, rapid biodiversity surveys involving spiders as indicators were conducted from August to November, 2013, yielding a total of 1846 specimens, 29 families, 65 genera and 164 species. Specimens were captured by active search, beating and leaf litter collections from back mangrove, secondary rainforest and habitats close to freshwater. Species identification enabled habitat similarity analysis and calculation of Shannon’s diversity, species richness and Pielou’s evenness indices. Family seasonal variation and greater diversity in web builders were documented. Factors such as vegetation or microhabitat structure diversity, habitat isolation and anthropogenic disturbance may influence general habitat diversity indices. Compared to other methods and mirrored in previous surveys, active search is of great utility in sampling spiders. Hence, improvements to standardization and execution of active search were suggested. Dendrogram results indicate that habitats were more unique in species and perhaps microhabitat composition during this survey. Three undocumented species, namely Dolicognatha sp., Pseudanapis sp. and Sphingius vivax, were uncovered in this survey, demonstrating the uniqueness and diversity of spiders in Singapore. Data from this study will provide decision makers baseline information on spider diversity during this time frame in PU and SBWR.