Spider Communities of Isla Santa Cruz (Galapagos, Ecuador)

Resumen

The various vegetation zones of the central Galapagoan island, Santa Cruz, have been sampled for spiders on three occasions, in 1982, 1986 and 1988. This paper deals with the synecological analyses (DECORANA, TWINSPAN) of the spider composition of the different vegetation zones of the island. There is an important varia- tion in the composition of the spider communities of Santa Cruz coinciding mainly with altitudinal variation. As for plants, this relationship is different for the northern as com- pared to the southern side. Only on the southern slope are there agricultural activities and human settlements. Although this has led to an increase in the spider faunal diversity, the balance for nature conservation has clearly to be interpreted as negative.