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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2025.07.30.667680

Does field margin semi-natural habitat amplify theabundance of beneficial spiders in a vineyard canopy?

Phelps, C.
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Abstract

I compared spider counts from a transect bordered by a semi-natural habitat to those of a control transect in a California Central Coast organic vineyard over the course of the 2018 growing season, observing spiders in blue vane traps that had been suspended in the canopy fruit zone. Ranked abundance analysis of spider counts did not confirm a difference between the two transect populations for any time period and a population gradient proceeding from the vineyard edge into the vineyard center was not identified for either transect. I suggest that semi-natural habitat proximity does not promote spider populations in the ecological context of a classical Central Coast vineyard.

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Phelps, C.. 2025-08-03. Does field margin semi-natural habitat amplify theabundance of beneficial spiders in a vineyard canopy?. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.07.30.667680

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