News From the Field
Snakes Minus Birds Equals More Spiders for Guam

September 14, 2012

Ecologists have found as many as 40 times more spiders in Guam's remote jungle than are found on nearby islands. The booming spider population is likely due to the destruction of the island's forest birds, including those that eat insects, by the invasive brown treesnake. The large-scale, cross-island comparison, published online this week in PLOS ONE, uncovered a larger effect of birds on spiders than had been predicted from small-scale experiments. Full Story

Source
Rice University

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