Spiders of Slovakia - introduction

Introduction

This website presented here is dedicated to specialists and non-professionals too, who interested and study of invertebrates, but with a particular emphasis on spiders. Especially this making is assigned to Slovak public so it familiarize of this very interesting animal group living in the region of Slovakia.

39 882 spider species in the world belonging to 3 676 genera have been described (Platnick). About 3 500 of these are recorded from Europe (Alderweirelt & Jocqué 1993) and 1 100 species in Central Europe (Heimer & Nentwig 1991). There are 910 spider species registered in territory of Slovakia (Korenko, Svatoň lgt.) and else we have to add doubtful species for Slovak area (?) and species classificated as necessity revaluated taxonomical (!).

Spiders are a very important group of animals, by this reason is needful active protection of them. Considerable initiative of protection of spiders is The Red List of Spiders of Slovakia, that were last update by Gajdoš (2001). The implemented Red List of Spiders of Slovakia includes 423 species. At the present time, 17 spider species are protected by law and all of them are included in the List of Protected Species. Anyphaena furva Miller 1967, Araneus nordmanni (Thorell 1870), Arctosa perita (Latreille 1799), Arctosa stigmosa (Thorell 1875), Argiope lobata (Pallas 1772), Argyroneta aquatica (Clerck 1757), Atypus muralis Bertkau 1890, Cheiracanthium montanum L. Koch 1878, Dolomedes plantarius (Clerck 1757), Gnaphosa microps Holm 1939, Gnaphosa nigerrima L. Koch 1877, Haplodrassus moderatus (Kulczyński 1897), Larinioides silvicultrix (C. L. Koch 1835), Lycosa vultuosa C. L. Koch 1839, Pardosa proxima (C. L. Koch 1847), Synema plorator (O. P.-Cambridge 1872) and Zelotes puritanus Chamberlin 1922. This material is part of the law "Act on Nature and Landscape Protection" (No. 543/2002) which is adjusted by notice of the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic.

The Slovak Republic is situated in Central Europe and shares borders with five states: the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Ukrainian Republic and Poland. It was establishe as a new independent state on 1 January 1993. The country is one of the two legal successors to the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic. The area of Slovak Republic is 49 036 km2 and its location is found between the geographical co-ordinates of 47° 44" and 49° 37" northern latitude, and between 16° 50" and 22° 34" eastern longitude. Temperate climate is influenced by the ocean and continent, which results in relatively mild summers and winters. The long-term average temperatures are 20.5 °C and -3 °C in the summer and winter periods, respectively. The altitude ranges from 94 m (Bodrog) to 2 655 m (Gerlach Peak). The river network in the Slovak Republic is dense and mostly of a mountainous character. Present population of Slovakia consist of 5,376 million peple living in 2 891 settlements. The average population density is 109.7 persons/km2.

Diversity: geographical location of Slovakia in the centre of Europe and on the border between the Carpatians and Pannonian plain, determines the wealth of flora and fauna. Although Slovakia can not compete with tropical countries wealth of flora and fauna, the diversity of ecosystems emphasises the high value of its territory in regard to biodiversity. Slovakia's natural biological diversity is influenced by three main factors: 1. Altitude, 2. Diversity of geological conditions that includes alternating limestones and dolomites with granites, volcanic minerals and flysh zones, loesses and sand dunes, 3. The availability of water, which influences the character of ecosystems in all vertical zones and on every geological substrates.

Overview of the Plant Groups

The Main Taxon	Number of Specific Taxas		Endangered Species (IUCN)						Ed
	World	Slovakia	EX	CR	EN	VU	LR	ED
Algae	50 000	3 008	-	7	80	196	-	-	-
Fungy	100 000	3 764	-	7	39	49	87	90	-
Lichens	20 000	1 508	88	140	48	169	114	14	-
Bryophytess	20 000	909	26	95	104	112	84	74	2
Higher Plantss	250 000	3 352	77	266	320	430	285	50	220

Overview of the Animal Groups

The Main Taxon	Number of Specific Taxas		Endangered Species (IUCN)							Alongs
	World	Slovakia	EX	CR	EN	VU	LR	ED	NE
Mammals	4 763	90	2	2	6	12	27	15	4	68
Birds	9 946	219	2	7	23	19	47	4	19	121
Reptiles	7 970	12	-	1	-	4	6	-	-	11
Amphibians	4 950	18	-	-	3	5	10	-	-	18
Fishes	25 000	79	6	7	8	1	22	2	-	45
Spiders	40 000 ?	934	16	73	90	101	97	46	-	423

Forest ecosystems are an important source of biological diversity, represent a country economic potential, and provide many functions related to management of water supplies, erosion control, soil protection, recreation, social-health and aesthetics. In Slovakia, forests cover 2 002 774 ha, which represents 40.84 % of the country's total area. Of these forests, 40 to 45 % are semi-natural, but what sets them apart is that they have a composition of species that only slightly differs from the original forests. This is very special compared to most of the countries of central and western Europe. The effects of man have not escaped the forests of Slovakia. Deforestiation started in the fertile lowlands with the warmer climate, making way for agriculture and many other economic activities. This is observed by the fackt that in the Southwest of Slovakia, the area of forests is less than 10 %, but in Northeast and East of Slovakia, forests cover over 50 % (Klinda, Liesková 2002).

Stanislav Korenko