---

---

This page of links is maintained as a special section of the excellent Arachnology Home Page.  If you have a relevant link to contribute to this page, please send it along and I will include it here. Links relating to the conservation of other arachnids are also desired.

If you have entered via the Arachnology site, don't forget to also visit my main Spider Conservation page.

• Spider Conservation
• North America
• International
• Africa
• Asia
• Australia
• Europe
• Latin America
• Arachnologists With a Conservation Interest
• Utilitarian Value of Spiders
• Related Conservation Publications and Organizations

• NatureServe® is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals, and ecological communities of the United States and Canada. NatureServe is provided by the Association for Biodiversity Information (ABI) a non-profit organization dedicated to developing and providing knowledge about the world's natural diversity. While compiled data on spiders is admittedly sparse, 343 spider species are tracked in these databases, including 108 at risk species. Decent ecological and conservation status reports are available for USESA-listed species or candidates and rarer species. (USA)

• State-wide spider surveys that enlist amateurs can help fill critical data gaps. The Colorado Spider Survey is a means of gathering critical information about the ecology and distribution of the spiders of Colorado.  Denver Museum of Natural History (USA)

• Similarly, the Ohio Spider Survey (with newly redesigned web pages) is  gathering data on the ecology and distribution of the spiders of Ohio.  The Ohio State University-Marion (USA)

• My review of  Spider Conservation in the United States was published in the Endangered Species Update University of Michigan (USA)

• The charismatic Happy-faced spider (Theridion grallator) is endemic to the Hawaiian islands and is protected in several Nature Conservancy preserves.  The Nature Conservancy  (USA)

• Many spiders of conservation concern are cave-adapted troglobites. Read more about the special needs of these and other cave and karst-associated species at the Biospeleology site of the Texas Memorial Museum. The biodiversity of cave and karst and their conservation are discussed.  A preprint of a paper by William Elliot on "Conservation of the North American Cave and Karst Biota" is available. The University of Texas at Austin (USA)

• Twelve arachnids (including 8 spiders) are now listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The USFWS Endangered Species Program page offers information about the Act and current protection efforts. The Kauai cave wolf spider has recently been listed as endangered (January, 2000). Endangered status has also been recently assigned (December, 2000) to five Texas cave spiders. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USA)

• The Tooth cave spider (Neoleptoneta myopica) is listed on the U.S. Endangered Species Act.  Texas Parks and Wildlife (USA)

• Another photo of  the Tooth cave spider (Neoleptoneta myopica) is available at the Biospeleology site of the Texas Memorial Museum. The University of Texas at Austin (USA)

• The Spruce-fir moss spider (Microhexura montivaga) is listed on the U.S. Endangered Species Act.  Joel Harp (USA).  There is also a brief Conservation Case Study available on this site.

• An article, "Spiders lend a leg to biodiversity: Zoologists simulate habitat fragmentation to unravel nature's mechanisms for maintining diverse habitats" by Brecken Lesniewski which discusses experiments being performed by Ann Rypstra and Sam Marshall.  Compass 1997: Directions of the Arts and Sciences at Miami University (USA)

• The Terrestrial Invertebrate Taxon Advisory Group of the American Zoo and Aquaria Association has an Arachnid Specialist Group that is developing plans and strategies for arachnid conservation. You can read annual reports from 1995 and 1996 at the site. (USA)

• The Louisville Zoo is involved in captive breeding programs for a number of endangered species, including two threatened spiders: the Spruce-fir moss spider and the Mexican redkneed tarantula. Louisville Zoological Garden, Kentucky (USA)

Spider Conservation (International)

• Nine papers and an editorial from a symposium entitled "Issues in Spider Conservation" held at the 1998 meeting of the Society of Conservation Biology in Sydney, Australia are currently available online in PDF format. Journal of Insect Conservation. (Netherlands)

• Paper abstracts from a symposium entitled "Issues in Spider Conservation" that was held at the 1998 meeting of the Society of Conservation Biology in Sydney, Australia are available on this site. (USA)

• The 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals is searchable online.  Many arachnids have been listed including 15 spiders (UK)

• The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) lists all tarantula species in the genus Brachypelma under Appendix 2 providing restrictions on transport across national boundaries to help reduce collecting pressures on sensitive native populations. The species database is searchable online (UK)

• The International Kuril Island Project is an international collaboration of American, Russian, and Japanese scientists to survey the plants, insects, spiders, freshwater and terrestrial mollusks, freshwater fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals of the Kuril Archipelago. Survey teams include arachnologists from each country. University of Washington (USA)

• A page with several African Arachnid Articles covering a variety of topics. The page includes a link to a list of papers presented at the 5th International Colloquium on African Arachnids (25th - 29th November 1996).  Several of these papers are of conservation interest.  Jonathan Leeming (South Africa)

• South African Tourism and Wildlife  A brief note about South African spider diversity.  South African Communication Service (South Africa)

• Information from the Ural Red Data Book includes a rare and vulnerable spider, (Lycosa singoriensis). NatUral Nature (Russia)

• Visual spider survey of Gemmil's Swamp Wildlife Reserve.  Photographs of Red Gum floodplain forest and Tall Spike-Rush wetlands between the urban centers of Mooroopna and Shepparton in the Shepparton Irrigation Region, Victoria, Australia.  Michael Lea-Whyte (Australia).

• Refugia for Biological Diversity in Arid and Semi-arid Australia  A short discussion of relict cave arachnids, including spiders, on conservation lands. Australian Department of the Environment and associated agencies (Australia).

• Biodiversity of Australasian Ground Spiders  This project project entails preparing monographs covering the Australian ground spiders of the superfamily Gnaphosoidea. These spiders are among the most abundant and important predators in both forest and drier habitats throughout Australia, Tasmania, New Caledonia and New Zealand. American Museum of Natural History (USA)

• An extinct spider from Australia (Hadronyche pulvinator). Department of Environment & Land Management (Australia)

• The Cave Spider Website summarizes information on cave spiders and their habitats in Europe. Andreas Rohner (Switzerland)

• Aracnis provides an excellent overview of spiders and their relatives and promotes an understanding of spider ecology and conservation by mirroring some links developed from this site. Pedro Miguel Bondoso Cardoso (Portugal)

• Ground spiders (Araneae) and epigeic harvestmen (Opiliones) in the protected area "Puez-Geisler" (Dolomites, South-Tyrol, Italy)  An article (in press) by Vito Zingerle, University of Innsbruck. (Austria)

• A checklist of Invertebrates at the Triglav National Park, Slovenia includes the arachnid fauna. Jurij Dobravec (Slovenia)

• Ecology and diversity of central Amazon spiders The results of spider inventories in two inundated forest reserves in Brazil. (Brazil)

Arachnologists With a Conservation Interest

• Miquel A. Arnedo is studying the patterns of maintenance and extinction of species using isolated ecosystems (such as islands and caves) as models. University of Hawaii (USA)

• Richard Bradley is conducting a long-term habitat-specific survey of spiders in Ohio. Ohio State University (USA)

• James E. Carrel studies the chemical ecology of insects, spiders and millipedes and is conducting quantitative ecological studies of rare wolf spiders that are endemic to the xeric, sandyridges of central Florida. University of Missouri, Columbia (USA)

• Jonathan Coddington performs research spanning three broad topics: the systematics and evolution of spiders, especially orbweavers; issues in systematic theory and method; and, most recently, the theory and design of biological inventories. National Museum of Natural History (USA).

• James Cokendolpher is a specialist on several orders of arachnids, with a particular interest in threatened cave species. His site contains a list of papers, some abstracts and full-text, as well as copies of several unpublished reports (USA)

• Frederick A. Coyle has performed research in systematics, evolution, and natural history of spiders.  His interests include the biodiversity and conservation biology of southern Appalachian spiders, including research that is the foundation of knowledge on the endangered Spruce-fir moss spider.  He is currently working on a survey of the spiders of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Biosphere Preserve. This research addresses questions about biodiversity inventory design and analysis at the landscape level. Western Carolina University, North Carolina (USA)

• Rodney Crawford has performed extensive arthropod surveys in Washington, contributing to many conservation assessments. Burke Museum, University of Washington (USA)

• Iain Downie works on a project that assesses invertebrate biodiversity (spiders and carabids) in agricultural land in Scotland. The aim of this work is to produce a set of predictive models which will enable planners to make more detailed decisions regarding biodiversity in future policy changes. Scottish Agricultural College (Scotland)

• Rosemary Gillespie has studied the effects of alien species on endemic spiders (Tetragnatha spp.) in Hawaii. Her current research focuses on studying Happy-faced spiders (Theridion grallator) and the conservation needs of insular fauna. University of Hawaii (USA)

• Charles E. Griswold has researched spider biogeography and distributions (especially in Africa) and techniques for estimating and comparing spider species richness. California Academy of Sciences Golden Gate Park (USA)

• Joel M. Harp played a vital role in getting the Spruce-fir moss spider listed as Endangered in the U.S. His research is in arachnology including behavioral ecology of spiders and histology and ultrastructure of the spider digestive tissue. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee (USA)

• Marshall Hedin has studied the evolutionary patterns of biodiversity using cave-dwelling spiders, a group of rare and potentially threatened spiders. San Diego State University (USA)

• Frank Howarth has examined the effects of alien species and the special conservation needs of cave fauna. His work is also the foundation of knowledge for an Endangered Species Act candidate species, the Kauai cave wolf spider (Adelocosa anops). Bishop Museum, Hawaii (USA)

• Jean-Pierre Maelfait has studied spiders as indicators of biodiversity and heavy metal contamination and the genetic effects of fragmentation on populations. His research has been focused on the Lycosidae of Europe and the Galapagos Islands. Institute of Nature Conservation (Belgium)

• Kimberly N. Russell (Norris) is interested in biological monitoring in terrestrial systems, arthropod conservation, invasive species, automated species identification of spiders. Columbia University (USA)

• Martin Ramirez has performed leading research in the area of spider conservation genetics (e.g., Bothriocyrtum californicum and Aposticus simus). (USA)

• Jon Reiskind has extensively studied the rare Florida endemic Rosemary wolf spider (Hogna ericeticola). University of Florida (USA)

• Ann Rypstra has studied the ecology of spiders in agroecosystems, and is currently examining the effects of fragmentation on spider populations. Miami University, Ohio (USA)

• Andrei V. Tanasevitch studies systematics, biodiversity and zoogeography of spiders, and the conservation of endangered arachnids. (Russia)

• David Wise is an ecologist who studies spiders and other arthropod generalist predators with a focus on resource limitation, competition and predator-prey dynamics. He has written an extensive review of spider ecology, Spiders in Ecological Webs. University of Kentucky (USA)

Utilitarian Value of Spiders

• Spiders in biological control  Midwest Biological Control News, Entomology Dept. University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA)

• "Spider silk as rubber" by J. M. Gosline, M. W. Denny & M. E. DeMont, 1984 (abstract) (Canada)

• "Spider toxins as novel leads for drug and insecticide design" by G. King. Protein Structure and Engineering Group. Department of Biochemistry, University of Sydney (Australia)

• "In pursuit of the treasures in spiders' webs and venom"  Independent Newspapers (South Africa)

Related Conservation Publications and Organizations

• Conservation Biology The Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology (USA).

• Journal of Insect Conservation A new publication which offers a prominent, peer-reviewed forum dedicated to invertebrate conservation issues (UK).

•  The Xerces Society is an international, nonprofit organization focused on public education about invertebrates and conservation projects that demonstrate their critical roles in endangered ecosystems around the globe.

• Wings:Essays on Invertebrate Conservation is a biannual publication of the The Xerces Society. A special issue on arachnids that included 3 articled on spiders was published in Spring 1999 (Volume 22, Number 1).  You can order this individual issue here (USA).

• The GrassRoots Environmental Effectiveness Network (GREEN), a project of Defenders of Wildlife publishes a daily electronic newsletter called GREENLines. GREEN is a project of Defenders of Wildlife designed to serve grassroots wildlife and wildlands advocates. There are several Issues with notes related to spider listings: 6-13-00, 9-11-00 , 10-25-00, 11-13-00, 12-28-00.

• The National Speleological Society was founded for the purpose of advancing the study, conservation, exploration, and knowledge of caves.  The Cave Conservation and Management Section of the site provides many links and other information on cave and karst conservation issues.

• Australasian Spiders: Papers Honoring Barbara York Main This 28 paper volume is dedicated to Dr. Barbara York Main in honour of illustrious contributions to arachnology, biogeography, conservation and history. Order online. Western Australia Museum (Australia).

• The Invertebrate Conservation Research Centre is aimed at undertaking research that directly enhances the continued survival of invertebrates, especially insects. This site includes an extensive publication list of Michael Samways. University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg (South Africa).

• Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute is a private not-for-profit environmental and science education institution that fosters an awareness, knowledge and appreciation of all nature through the study and interpretation of the vital roles arthropods play in the Sonoran Desert ecosystem.  SASI hosts an "Invertebrates in Captivity Conference" each year, which has often included presentations on arachnid display, husbandry, conservation and education. Sonoran Artropod Studies Institute, Arizona (USA).