What a wonderful web they weave: spiders, nutrient capture and early ecosystem development in the high Arctic - some counter-intuitive ideas on community assembly

Spiders are the earliest colonisers of newly exposed moraine substrates on the glacier foreland of the Midtre Lovenbreen at Ny-Angstrom lesund, W. Spi tsbergen, Svalbard (78 degreesN). Spider densities are highly correlated wi th allochthonous inputs of potential prey items, predominantly chironomid m idges. Large allochthonous inputs of insects potentially provide significan t quantities of nitrogen and phosphorus to the developing ecosystem from th e earliest stages of succession, even before a conspicuous cyanobacterial c rust has formed. Spiders entrap nutrients and their possible broader role i n early ecosystem development is discussed.