Alsaleem Taghreed A, Kehail Moutaman Ali, Alzahrani Abdulrahaman S, Alsaleem Turki, Alkhalifa Areej H, Alqahtani Abdulaziz M, Altalhi Mohammed H, Alkhamis Hussein H, Alowaifeer Abdullah M, Alrefaei Abdulwahed Fahad
The King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve (KARR), Riyadh 12213, Saudi Arabia.
Green Sustainability Company for Environmental Services (GSCES), Riyadh 13326, Saudi Arabia.
Biology (Basel). 2024 Dec 22;13(12):1082. doi: 10.3390/biology13121082.
The biodiversity of invertebrate animals is largely affected by climatic changes. This study evaluates the seasonal abundance and diversity of non-insect arthropods in the King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve (KARR), Saudi Arabia, over four collection periods (summer, autumn, winter, and spring) during 2023. Sampling was conducted across multiple sites in the reserve using both active (manual collection and active surveying for the diurnal species) and passive (pitfall traps and malaise traps for the nocturnal species) methods. A total of 586 non-insect arthropod specimens were collected, representing four classes: Arachnida, Chilopoda, Branchiopoda, and Malacostraca. The results show that the most abundant species was the jumping spider , which dominated collections across two seasons, with a peak abundance of 50.7% in late summer. Seasonal variations in non-insect arthropod diversity were observed, with a lower diversity recorded during January-March (4 species, and this may be attributed to this period revealing the lowest temperature reading recorded during the study period) and higher diversity in August-September (end of summer) and October-November (mid of autumn), with 14 species. Scorpions, particularly species from the families Buthidae and Scorpionidae, were common during the summer months, while solifuges and centipedes showed sporadic occurrences across seasons. These findings align with the results for arthropod distribution in arid regions, with temperature and resource availability as key drivers of biodiversity in desert environments because of their direct effects on the biochemical processes of these creatures. This study contributes valuable baseline data on the non-insect arthropod fauna of the KARR. The insights gained from this study can aid in conservation efforts and provide a foundation for further research on non-insect arthropod ecology in arid landscapes.
无脊椎动物的生物多样性在很大程度上受到气候变化的影响。本研究评估了2023年沙特阿拉伯阿卜杜勒阿齐兹国王皇家保护区（KARR）内非昆虫节肢动物在四个采集期（夏季、秋季、冬季和春季）的季节性丰度和多样性。在保护区的多个地点进行了采样，采用了主动（手动采集和对昼行性物种进行主动调查）和被动（陷阱诱捕和 malaise 诱捕用于夜行性物种）两种方法。共采集到586个非昆虫节肢动物标本，分属于四个纲：蛛形纲、唇足纲、鳃足纲和软甲纲。结果表明，最丰富的物种是跳蛛，它在两个季节的采集样本中占主导地位，夏末时丰度峰值达到50.7%。观察到非昆虫节肢动物多样性存在季节性变化，1月至3月期间多样性较低（4种，这可能归因于该时期是研究期间记录到的最低温度时段），8月至9月（夏末）和10月至11月（中秋）多样性较高，有14种。蝎子，特别是钳蝎科和蝎科的物种，在夏季较为常见，而避日蛛和蜈蚣在各季节均有零星出现。这些发现与干旱地区节肢动物分布的结果一致，温度和资源可利用性是沙漠环境中生物多样性的关键驱动因素，因为它们直接影响这些生物 的生化过程。本研究提供了关于KARR非昆虫节肢动物区系的宝贵基础数据。从这项研究中获得的见解有助于保护工作，并为干旱景观中非昆虫节肢动物生态学的进一步研究奠定基础。
