Does the microarchitecture of Mexican dry forest foliage influence spider distribution

Spider species diversity has been associated with vegetation structure and stratification but there are few studies comparing the spider distribution in different shrubs and trees. In this study we analyzed the species distribution of the spider community of 11 shrub and tree species in two different study sites in a Mexican tropical dry forest. We present results from multivariate analyses that explain their distribution. A classification analysis based on spider abundances separated one shrub, Croton ciliatoglanduliferus, from the rest of the plant species. This was explained by the presence of large numbers of the oxyopid Peucetia viridans (Hentz 1832) on this plant. A second cluster segregated broad-leaved from small-leaved, bipinnate species. This was mainly due to higher spider abundances in the latter type of plants. Four vegetation variables were estimated and their influence on the species distribution was assessed by means of a principal components and regression analysis. With the exception of P. viridans, all spiders were positively associated with number of leaves and number of branchlets per 50 cm branch and negatively with foliage area.