Life history of an urban-tolerant spider shows resilience to anthropogenic habitat disturbance

Abstract Animals living in urban ecosystems must contend with a range of biotic and abiotic habitat modifications and changes in the structure of ecological communities. Environmental conditions in cities can alter the phenology of plants and herbivores and are likely to impact the life histories of a range of animals dwelling in urban areas. In order to assess the effect of urbanisation on the life history of an arthropod predator, we surveyed the abundance and developmental stages of Golden orb-weaving spiders (Nephila plumipes) along an urban gradient for 3 years. We measured prey density at each site and environmental variables at local (500 m) and landscape (2 km) scales, including vegetation and impervious surface cover, and human population densities. Spider abundance and development differed significantly among years, indicating large temporal variation in the phenology of this species. Our intensive sampling of N. plumipes over one season revealed extensive mortality during early stages of development and the delayed maturation of some individuals late in the season. Surprisingly we found no association between urban habitat traits at either scale and the abundance or development of N. plumipes. Spider abundance was associated with increased rainfall, but the effects of rainfall on development differed among years. Interestingly, prey abundance did not influence the abundance or development of this species. The lack of response to landscape-scale modification of habitats indicates that the development of N. plumipes is relatively unaffected by urbanisation at the 500 m to 2 km scale and that resilience to change may be an important trait for urban-tolerant species.