Changes in wolf spider (Araneae) assemblages across woodland-pasture boundaries in the central wheat-belt of New South Wales, Australia

The abundance of wolf spiders (Lycosidae) was measured across woodland-past ure boundaries in the wheat-belt of New South Wales, Australia, to determin e the nature and magnitude of any edge effect. Spiders were collected by sp otlighting along sample plots in woodlands located at distances of 5, 20, 3 5 and 200 m from the edge, and along sample plots in paddocks located at di stances of 5 and 20 m from the edge. The wolf spider assemblage changed sig nificantly across the edge, but the difference could be accounted for only by a change between the woodland and the paddock and not by any changes wit hin the woodland at different distances from the edge. Ground cover (wolf s pider microhabitat) changed significantly between the paddock and the woodl and, but there were no consistent differences in microhabitat with distance from edge within either paddocks or woodlands. There was a significant cor relation between an ordination of sites based on spider species abundance a nd an ordination based on microhabitat variables, suggesting that the wolf spider assemblage was responding to differences in microhabitat. Fine-scale selection of microhabitat by most wolf spider species was non-random, with most species preferring locations with grass cover, rather than more open locations. The present study indicates that wolf spiders are mostly unaffec ted by edge conditions at the woodland-paddock boundary. Accordingly, small and/or linear remnants with high edge-to-area ratios may constitute suitab le faunal habitat for wolf spiders and perhaps other terrestrial arthropod species, despite the fact that this configuration is unsuitable for many ve rtebrate species.