Spiders of the Kreidova Flora Nature Reserve (Eastern Ukraine)

Study Extent

Spiders were collected by hand, by pitfall trapping, and by sweep netting in various habitats: chalk slopes with herbaceous vegetation and shrubs, forb-fescue-feather grass steppe on the flat interfluves, gully bottoms, floodplain meadow, old abandoned field, old abandoned chalk quarry, pine forests on chalk slopes and tops of hills. The author is thankful to director of the Kreidova Flora Nature Reserve S. Lymanskyi for the access to the protected area and favorable working conditions. This dataset was prepared and published with the help of the Olin gGmbH foundation to preserve data on the biodiversity of Ukraine obtained by the Ukrainian scientists, who were forced to leave their homeland due to the war (Russia's invasion of Ukraine). Olin gGmbH is a funding organization for environmental protection and conservation that supports environmental and sociopolitical organizations.

Sampling

Ten pitfall traps were set in a line in each studied habitat. I used 300 ml plastic caps and arranged them at a distance of 10 m from each other. In 2019, the exposition lasted from May 3 to July 5 (the traps were checked on June 2, and July5) and from September 8 to October 10. In 2021, the material was collected from May 23 to July 4. Sweep netting and hand collecting were carried out on days of setting and checking traps. Geographical locations were indicated by GPS-navigator in decimal degrees according to the WGS 84 system. The nomenclature follows the World Spider Catalogue (WSC, 2022).

Quality Control

The author is fully responsible for the quality of data provided within the dataset.

Method steps

1. Field expeditions to the study site.
2. Establishing a line of ten traps at a distance of 10 m at each study plot.
3. Checking of the traps.
4. Sweep netting conducted in the same habitats, hand collecting.
5. Georeferencing with the help of GPS-navigator.
6. Species identification in the laboratory.
7. Organizing of a dataset according to Darwin Core standards.

The dataset consists of finds of spiders (class - Arachnida, order - Araneae).

1. Animalia
   rank: kingdom
2. Arthropoda
   rank: phylum
3. Arachnida
   rank: class
4. Araneae
   rank: order

The study area is located near the villages of Kryva Luka and Zakitne in the Krmatorsk District of the Donetsk Region, Ukraine.