Protecting tarantulas as a Natural Resource

[IrishPolishman]

I will be beginning to write an extensive paper for school on the protection and management of tarantulas as a natural resource. I guess i'm trying to find good direction on how to go about doing this. I know I need to keep the report within the states and not venture out of country. Does anyone have any good tips on which T to focus on, certain area, anything? I was kind of hoping that this paper would be influenced by AB. Input would be greatly appreciated. If anyone has stumbled across any articles related to, or that may help this topic, please post links on this thread.

Thank you
Marcus

 

[Endagr8]

Some aphonopelma of the west or the b vagans of florida

 

[Kirk]

Aphonopelma species would probably be the group to focus on since you could refer to the effects of habit loss. This would especially be effective if you can get info on distribution patterns, especially if they are relatively constrained, as well as the fact that there remain undescribed species. Examples: http://esa.confex.com/esa/2006/techprogram/paper_26490.htm and http://www.naturalheritage.com/citizen-science/tarantula/results.asp.

Brachypelma vagans in Florida is the result of introduction, so you might look for references as to their impact on native arthropods in the region. Introduced species often have no natural predators to control population size, which can result in notable alterations of habitats and/or native fauna. Here's an article to start: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IN562.

 

[Bill S]

For the B vagans issue you might try to contact G.B. Edwards (co-author of the article that chone 1 linked to). G.B. did an update presentation for the American Tarantula Society conference last summer. It seems the introduced population is not much of a threat. It expanded to fill its maximum territory years ago, and that hasn't gone beyond a very limited set of environmental conditions. That environment is now shrinking, and the tarantula may be decreasing along with those changes.

In terms of Aphonopelma - data may be difficult to obtain. We're still not sure what species exist, nor their ranges. The genus is being studied and revised, but the results won't be available for a while. However, you could look at the impact of environmental degradation on their habitat (lots of development and new roads in much of their habitat, off-road vehicles and other recreation, agriculture) and environmental change.

 

[arachnube]

Along with Habitat loss, I have been wondering what "global Warming" has affected T's. From what I've read, scientists think that rain patterns are going to change dramaticaly in the next couple of decades. I wonder how this will affect T. habitats in the wild. It goes right along with habitat loss i suppose.

But then again, Global Warming isn't real......just a suggestion.

 

[syndicate]

Another thing you may want to mention in your paper is that there is a lot of medicinal uses for tarantula venom and keeping them around could be in our best interest ;]
-Chris

 

[Arachn'auQuébec]

Along with Habitat loss, I have been wondering what "global Warming" has affected T's. From what I've read, scientists think that rain patterns are going to change dramaticaly in the next couple of decades. I wonder how this will affect T. habitats in the wild. It goes right along with habitat loss i suppose.

But then again, Global Warming isn't real......just a suggestion.

Global warming IS real, the whole scientific cummunity agreed on this. I would guess it will affect positively most cold blooded animals, including tarantulas, but of course many other factors are also important...I would stick with habitat loss if I were you, since there is already plenty to say about this and more research has been done on this way.

 

[IrishPolishman]

Along with Habitat loss, I have been wondering what "global Warming" has affected T's. From what I've read, scientists think that rain patterns are going to change dramaticaly in the next couple of decades. I wonder how this will affect T. habitats in the wild. It goes right along with habitat loss i suppose.

But then again, Global Warming isn't real......just a suggestion.

Sorry but I have to argue. Global Warming is completely real. Scientific fact and findings have proven this, and why the public and media don't spin it as "real" I will never know. The proof is in the ice cores and atmospheric composition tests.

 

[bliss]

Global warming...

IrishPolishman, i would go with what chone1 and syndicate have to offer, as far as your paper on T's

 

[IrishPolishman]

IrishPolishman, i would go with what chone1 and syndicate have to offer, as far as your paper on T's

It's going in my notebook for potential research and findings.

I have to tell you that "off topic" sign just made me laugh.

 

[arachnube]

Along with Habitat loss, I have been wondering what "global Warming" has affected T's. From what I've read, scientists think that rain patterns are going to change dramaticaly in the next couple of decades. I wonder how this will affect T. habitats in the wild. It goes right along with habitat loss i suppose.

But then again, Global Warming isn't real......just a suggestion.

If I thought Global warming wasn't real I wouldn't have suggested it. Nor was I suggesting it as a main topic of your paper. Much research has and is being done, I only brought it up as a contribution to habitat loss. :wall:

Sarcasm people!

 

[David Burns]

One of the things that the native species need protection against is the introduction of non native species. With all the breeding going on it is only a matter of time until people start releasing the slings they cannot sell. It is wrong, but it will happen.

 

[MizM]

Global warming is a publicity name given to the change of climate that IS actually happening right now. The Earth's climate has always changed, and is doing so again. Polar bears and many other species are already being affected, it will eventually affect Ts too.

Dave Mollendorf in Austin is currently working with someone to identify exactly what Ts we have here and where they are located using DNA comparison. This is going to be a huge undertaking and they've just barely started with the Texas species. Huge surprises have been promised!! With the taxonomy of North American Ts in such a mess, you should probably just stick with using the entire genus Aphonopelms in general.

 

[the nature boy]

Speak to Ace. Science is his thing.

 

[Kirk]

Dave Mollendorf in Austin is currently working with someone to identify exactly what Ts we have here and where they are located using DNA comparison. This is going to be a huge undertaking and they've just barely started with the Texas species. Huge surprises have been promised!! With the taxonomy of North American Ts in such a mess, you should probably just stick with using the entire genus Aphonopelms in general.

MizM raises a good point re members of Aphonopelma. Organisms with limited dispersal tend to exhibit higher species diversity. It won't be at all surprising that with sequence data becoming available it's found that diversity in the genus is substantially higher. Such 'cryptic' diversity then accentuates the importance of knowing distributions, habitat preferences, etc. in the name of conservation efforts.

 

[Bill S]

MizM raises a good point re members of Aphonopelma. Organisms with limited dispersal tend to exhibit higher species diversity.

True enough, but your comment made me remember an incident that shows that we sometimes underestimate the dispersal potential for some species. A friend of mine was working with a desert tortoise population in the foothils of the Rincon Mountains. We tend to think of tortoises as having a low dispersal potential - they move too slowly, especially considering that they are hemmed in by roads nowadays. My friend used radio telemetry and other tracking methods to monitor the tortoises and was shocked to find that one of the adult tortoises one day set out on a trek across the Rincon Valley and south across the Cienega watershed to the Santa Rita Mountains - a journey of many miles and several months. The second surprise was the following year when the tortoise turned around and headed home.

I think that most of us take it for granted that tarantulas in a given population do not wander far from it - but that assumption has not been tested. We aren't able to attach radio collars to either baby tarantulas in their initial dispersal or to males out hunting for females, so we really don't kow how much dispersal is going on.

 

[Kirk]

I think that most of us take it for granted that tarantulas in a given population do not wander far from it - but that assumption has not been tested. We aren't able to attach radio collars to either baby tarantulas in their initial dispersal or to males out hunting for females, so we really don't kow how much dispersal is going on.

True enough, and would be great data to collect, at least for mature males. I wonder if radio transmitters have been miniaturized to the point that one could be glued to the carapace (cf. http://www.biotrack.co.uk/tagchooser.php). Population genetic studies should also give indications of the extent of dispersal.

 

[barabootom]

Another angle you might explore would be the affects on other organisms once a T population has been greatly reduced or lost in one area. Is there an increase in locust populations or fireants? What effects does a lack of T's have on the environment?

 

[Bill S]

Another angle you might explore would be the affects on other organisms once a T population has been greatly reduced or lost in one area. Is there an increase in locust populations or fireants? What effects does a lack of T's have on the environment?

While that would definitely be interesting to know - that would require work WAY beyond a simple school project. To start with, you'd need to have a pretty complete census of all arthropod and small vertebrate life within the study area, both before and after the removal of the tarantulas. Otherwise you'd have no way of knowing if the populations of any of them had been affected. To give you an idea what that might entail, I've got a friend who has been studying moths found in his yard in southeastern Arizona. He has so far documented approximately 900 species, not counting microleps which are the most abundant ones. And he has not been able to do population estimates on any of these. And this is just moths - think what numbers you'd come up with if you expand to cover even just the insects in the area.

Most of us don't have a clue about the diversity of the life around us - nor the sheer numbers of animals we routinely share our space with.