B-CILCAS
type: Concept
in scheme: projects
definition: Short Title: B-CILCAS Proposal URL: http://classic.ipy.org/development/eoi/proposal-details.php?id=390 Spiders are important general predators of insects and other arthropods in all terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. In addition they are an important food source for smaller vertebrates, like birds. Therefore they act as important key nodes in the arctic food web. The proposed project aims at an extensive documentation of the current status of arctic spider biodiversity and genetic diversity and at the evaluation of climate change-driven modification of spider lifecycles. Arctic spider biodiversity has been addressed selectively, but not yet comprehensively. Nevertheless, it has been demonstrated that the assessment of spider diversity allows to conclude on the diversity of all arthropods in a given habitat. In addition, spiders, especially lycosids (wolf spiders), are valid model organisms for the monitoring of climate change impact on arctic habitats and their microclimate. In fact, spiders adapt their lifecycle frequencies to microclimatic conditions. Since in the arctic lifecycles take up to several years, changes will almost instantly be assessable by analysis of the life stages present. Our aim is to combine an arctic-wide spider biodiversity survey and the monitoring of climate induced lifecycle changes in a set of model species at several circum-arctic locations. For the first aim, surveys will be conducted at a selected set of locations, to assess data across the arctic, partly linked to existing stations and other IPY reference sites and projects. In addition, we try to extend our resolution by including students of the whole arctic via the GLOBE project. Collected specimens will be identified by spider taxonomy experts, and characterized using molecular markers for a subset of samples, to address genetic diversity. On the long-term, dynamics of species and genetic biodiversity, shall be addressed. This will allow to estimate speed of speciation in the arcti…

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type: Concept