Michael Reichert

Education: Majoring in Chemistry, Animal Sciences and Industry
Mentor: Gregory Zolnerowich, Ph.D.
Project: Quantitative Analysis of Spider Populations on Organic Farms across an Urban Gradient

This study provides quantitative data on spider populations in organic agricultural settings and assesses whether spider numbers vary according to the degree of urbanization (urban, peri-urban, or rural). This data was collected via pitfall traps on 14 vegetable farms around the Kansas City metropolitan area, Kansas and Missouri, in July 2024. The specimens collected were primarily the family Lycosidae, wolf spiders, making up 54% of the spiders collected. We found no statistical difference between spider numbers and urban farm type with the exception of the family Salticidae, jumping spiders, where more were found on rural farms. We also tested whether farm size or crop diversity affected spider numbers. We found a statistically significant negative correlation between ground spider populations and crop diversity and a marginally significant negative correlation between spiders usually found in vegetation and farm size. These results suggest that farm type has little influence on spider number but is largely affected by farm-level properties such as size and crop diversity.