3/17/2024 0 Comments Spiders burrowing in the ground![]() ![]() Habitat conservation is an essential element of maintaining sustainable ecosystems.īushland remnants are important habitats for spiders in rural areas. ![]() Conserving spider habitat not only saves the spiders but also the whole ecosystem of which they are a part. In many parts of Australia spider populations are threatened because their habitats are being destroyed by the clearing and degrading of bushland. Both their venom and silk are being used in medical research (stroke treatment), pest control (insect specific pesticides) and fibre technology (transgenic biosilk production). They have major ecological and agricultural roles as killers of insects. Their webs are wonders of natural architecture. Spiders are an important and fascinating part of our natural environment. Their presence gives us valuable information about evolutionary processes and environmental history. Refuge habitats are important for conservation because many of the animals and plants that live in them are not found anywhere else. ![]() It is logical that such species are poor dispersers that need to spread only over relatively short distances by walking. These highly adapted species cannot survive outside the cave refuge even after surface climatic conditions have improved. Such spiders may not only evolve into new species but may also become specifically adapted to living in specialised habitats like caves. These isolated populations are often small and can be subject to considerable random genetic variation - a 'bottleneck' effect. Many events, like climate change or rising sea levels, can result in animals like spiders becoming isolated in 'refuge' habitats, like caves, mountain tops and islands, where they are unable to survive in the 'hostile' areas surrounding their refuge. Spiders as different as orb weavers and wolf spiders disperse by ballooning. Ballooning helps maintain and extend the distributions of these spiders. Many land close by, sometimes swathing the landscape in gossamer silk but others may travel long distances across land or sea. Young spiders, and even small adults of some species, put out silk threads which are caught by the wind, carrying them up and away. Many of these spiders get around by behaviour called ballooning. Spider species that are found in many places are often good travellers. The recognition of related plant and animal taxa on widely separated continents like Australia. ![]() When Gondwana broke up, spiders were isolated on separate continents, where they evolved independently into new (but related) spider groups. Some 150 million years ago, Australia was part of the southern supercontinent of Gondwana. The world' s continents, with the plants and animals on them, have drifted together and broken apart over many millions of years. These involve geological, environmental, genetic, ecological and behavioural processes. Many factors affect the distribution and evolutionary history of spiders. A few spider species have invaded the ocean's edge, living in the rock and coral crevices of the intertidal zone. The only places where there are no spiders are the polar regions, the highest mountains and the oceans. Spiders live in almost every habitat on earth. ![]()
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