Effects of Thinning on Spider Diversity of an East Asian Subtropical Plantation Forest

plantation stands receiving no, moderate, and heavy thinning treatments and a nearby natural broadleaf forest. The responses of spider communities in different strata of the plantation forests to thinning treatments varied. Heavy thinning treatment generated lower diversity indices in ground spiders and higher abundances in canopy spiders. Sampling plots in plantation stands receiving various thinning treatments differed in the compositions of ground, understory, and canopy spiders. Such composition variations resulted from abundance changes of ground weavers on the ground and orb weavers in the understory layer, which in turn seemed to be generated by reduced understory vegetation complexity due to the thinning treatments. Results of this study show that although thinning practices do not increase species richness in a subtropical