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Mowed orchards of the thermophyticum in Central Europe as vanishing refugia for steppe spiders

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Abstract

Orchards on slopes with southern exposure and calcareous substrates are typical of the thermophyticum area of the Bohemian Basin. Because these slopes have long been maintained by mowing, they support semi-natural dry grassland stands and scrublands. These slopes are no longer mowed, however, and recently have become overgrown with grasses and subsequently with shrubs and woody plants. Pitfall traps were used to compare the abundance and community composition of spiders in two abandoned orchard sites in Central Bohemia: an orchard meadow site and shrubs site. Spider abundance was significantly greater at the orchard meadow site. Of the 62 species captured at both sites, 25 were found exclusively at the orchard meadow site. Xerothermic species of steppe spiders were detected at the orchard meadow site. The difference in spider abundance and community composition between the two sites presumably reflects changes in the habitat structure.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Bruce Jaffee (USA) for linguistic and editorial improvements. We gratefully acknowledge Project No. 20124319 of the IGA of the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague for financing this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamycka 1176, Prague 6, Suchdol, 165 21, Czech Republic

    Martin Čejka & Jaroslav Holuša

  2. Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental Gardening, Lidicka 25/27, Brno, 602 00, Czech Republic

    Hana Skokanová

Authors
  1. Martin Čejka
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  2. Jaroslav Holuša
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  3. Hana Skokanová
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Correspondence to Jaroslav Holuša.

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Čejka, M., Holuša, J. & Skokanová, H. Mowed orchards of the thermophyticum in Central Europe as vanishing refugia for steppe spiders. Agroforest Syst 92, 637–642 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-016-0026-9

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