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

• Published in: Oikos
• Main Authors: Hodkinson, Ian D., Coulson, Stephen J., Harrison, Joanna, Webb, Nigel R.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2001
• Subjects: Arctic; Ny-Ålesund; Svalbard; glacier; Ny Ålesund; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0706.2001.950217.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1034%2Fj.1600-0706.2001.950217.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1034/j.1600-0706.2001.950217.x

Spiders are the earliest colonisers of newly exposed moraine substrates on the glacier foreland of the Midtre Lovénbreen at Ny‐Ålesund, W. Spitsbergen, Svalbard (78°N). Spider densities are highly correlated with allochthonous inputs of potential prey items, predominantly chironomid midges. Large allochthonous inputs of insects potentially provide significant quantities of nitrogen and phosphorus to the developing ecosystem from the earliest stages of succession, even before a conspicuous cyanobacterial crust has formed. Spiders entrap nutrients and their possible broader role in early ecosystem development is discussed.