Influence of liming on the epigeic spider (Araneae) community of the Krušné hory Mts. (Czech Republic)

We studied the influence of liming with the dolomitic limestone on the epigeic spider community in the birch stand of the Krušné hory Mts. in the Czech Republic. The treatment was carried out with the purpose of reducing the negative effect of anthropogenic air pollution and consequently to increase the ecological stability of the wood stand. Lime treatment in different amounts (6, 3, 1.5 and 0 t ha−1) was applied in August 2003 and for the following three years the spider community was investigated. We compared occurrences of spiders on studied plots with different lime treatment and tested the influence of the environmental factors, altogether with liming, on the spider community. The most significant factor appeared to be the character of habitat and both, hierarchical cluster analysis and canonical correspondence analysis, did not confirm any significant feedback of liming to the spider community in birch stand of the Krušné hory Mts.