|
|
Article: Cannibalism regulates densities of young wolf spiders: evidence from field and laboratory experiments.
- Article from:
- Ecology
- Article date:
- March 1, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Ecological Society of America. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
INTRODUCTION
Spiders are a ubiquitous and diverse group of terrestrial predators that often consume a substantial fraction of herbivore and detritivore populations (Van Hook 1971, Moulder and Reichle 1972, Manley et al. 1976). Descriptive and experimental studies have revealed the importance of prey availability and habitat structure in determining spider growth, fecundity, and/or abundance, and experimentalists recently have begun to uncover the impact of natural enemies on spider densities (cf. reviews by Uetz 1991, Wise 1993). What is often lacking is information on the degree of density dependence of the various mortality factors, and the extent to which they ...