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Vol. 49 No. 2, 2010
Resource Partitioning among Five Agrobiont Spiders of a Rice
Ecosystem
Abida
Butt1 and Hafiz Muhammad Tahir2,*
1Department
of Zoology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
2Department of Biological Sciences, University of
Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan
Abida
Butt and Hafiz Muhammad Tahir (2010)
The present study was conducted to investigate possible factors
responsible for the coexistence of 3 hunting spiders (Lycosa terrestris, Pardosa birmanica, and Oxyopes javanus) and 2 orb web spiders (Tetragnatha javana and Neoscona theisi) in a rice
ecosystem of central Punjab, Pakistan. For this purpose 2 plots
(each of 400 m2) were selected in a monoculture area of
Sheikupura District, Punjab, Pakistan. The active density of
spiders during the study period was recorded by pitfall trap and a
suction device. Data showed that the active density of all spider
species significantly differed among different trapping sessions.
Members of both guilds fed on the same prey orders but in different
proportions. Their reproductive period, abundances of young and
adults, and prey size also differed. A positive correlation was
found between the carapace width of a spider and prey it took.
Values of resource overlap indicated that species of a guild were
utilizing time, habitat, prey size, and prey taxa differently. A
discriminant function analysis also clearly separated the 5 species in
the 3 dimensional space. It was concluded that separation of
guild members in time, microhabitat, and prey niche dimensions reduced
competition, thus allowing coexistence.
Key words: Niche overlap, Competition,
Resource overlap.
*Correspondence: E-mail:hafiztahirpk1@yahoo.com
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