Theo Blick

private researcher/freelancer

Macroecologists seek to identify drivers of community turnover (β-diversity) through broad spatial scales. However, the influence of local habitat features in driving broad-scale β-diversity patterns remains largely untested, owing to the objective challenges of associating local-scale variables to continental-framed datasets. We examined the relat...

Since 2011 a list of the forest affinities of all forest species of vascular plants, bryophytes, and ferns known from Germany, is available. Recently, the first comparable lists of the forest affinities of animal species were published. These lists include a categorization of forest affinities for all species of Crassiclitellata: Lumbricidae (earth...

Despite their ecological importance and diversity, spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) are underrepresented in conservation policies in comparison to other groups. We review all extant conservation tools focusing on spiders in Europe, highlighting general patterns, limitations, gaps, and future directions. We assembled a comprehensive online database repo...

Under natural conditions beech forest would be the most widespread habitat in Central Europe. Therefore the knowledge of this vegetation type, including the animal communities dwelling there, as well as the mechanisms forming these communities are of high interest for biodiversity research and conservation in Central Europe. However, historically,...

Adelonychia and Adelonychia nigrostriata are the valid names for the mygalmorph spider genus and species Diplothele and Diplothele walshi (Araneae, Barychelidae)

German: Untersucht wurde ein 250 m² großer, relativ isolierter Hausgarten im Innenstadtbereich einer mittelgroßen Stadt in Südbayern. Insgesamt konnten dabei 1.083 Arten festgestellt werden. Dies dokumentiert, dass auch Gärten oder andere Kleinflächen ohne besondere Strukturausstattung eine bedeutende Artenvielfalt beherbergen können. Es unterstrei...

Zehm, A., Blick, T., Brackel, W. v., Bräu, M., Fuchs, H. & Guggemoos, T. (2024): Jede Fläche zählt – Selbst kleine Hausgärten können zur Artenvielfalt beitragen. – ANLiegen Natur 46 (1).

In the context of the Hessian strict forest program, the reserve Hasenblick was set aside from forest management in 1988. The program aims to document the faunas of forest reserves in unprecedented detail, using a set of many different sampling methods. Here data on ground dwelling spiders and beetles that were sampled with pitfall traps in 2000 an...

The spider species name Pelecopsis montana Seo 2018 (Linyphiidae) is preoccupied and requires a replacement name. We establish herein the necessary replacement nomen, namely: Pelecopsis seoi nom. nov. The homonymy of the recently synonymized genus name Collis Seo 2018 (Linyphiidae) and the possible homonymy of Hahnia montana Seo 2017 (Hahniidae) in...

The replacement name Xysticus logunovorum nomen novum is proposed for the crab spider species Xysticus logunovi Ono & Martens, 2005, which is preoccupied by Xysticus logunovi Sey-fulina & Mikhailov, 2004.

The family Theraphosidae is the most speciose in the infraorder Mygalomorphae Pocock, 1892 with over one thousand described species (World Spider Catalog 2021). The taxonomy of the group has been subjected to considerable attention in modern times, with a focus on delineation based predominantly on genital organ and stridulatory organ morphology wh...

Carabids (Coleoptera, Carabidae) at the walls of castles in Upper Franconia (Bavaria, Germany)-The carabid fauna at the stonework of four castles in Upper Franconia (north-eastern Bavaria, Germany) was examined in 2006 and 2007 by traps fixed at the walls, pitfall traps and by hand collecting. A total of 1086 ground beetles and 65 species was recor...

List of German names for the spiders of Germany (Araneae). Common names play an important role in the efficient communication of scientific results in biology, for instance in the area of applied conservation science, in popular articles and in Citizen Science projects. Common names can increase the readability of texts aimed at the general public...

When the museums of Lübeck, Stuttgart, Tübingen and partly of Wiesbaden were destroyed during World War II between 1942 and 1945, also all or parts of their type material were destroyed, among them types from spider species described by Embrik Strand between 1906 and 1917. He did not illustrate type material from 181 species and one subspecies and...

Introduction and Methodology For all species of Lumbricidae (earth worms), Araneae (spiders), Opiliones (daddy long-legs), Pseudoscorpiones (pseudoscorpions), Heteroptera (true bugs), Coleoptera (beetles), Aculeata (ants, bees and wasps), Macrolepidoptera (moths and butterflies) and Aves (birds) present in Germany we present lists summarizing their...

Clubiona zhangyongjingi nom. nov. = Clubiona transversa Zhang & Yin, 1998: 14, figs 16-19 (female only, male mismatched) (primary homonym of Clubiona transversa Bryant, 1936, synonym of Clubiona maritima L. Koch, 1867)

Background Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) are widespread in subterranean ecosystems worldwide and represent an important component of subterranean trophic webs. Yet, global-scale diversity patterns of subterranean spiders are still mostly unknown. In the frame of the CAWEB project, a European joint network of cave arachnologists, we collected data on...

Usually, individuals of species occur in different populations and these are connected by gene flow. While a population shows some degree of isolation to the next population, the genetic continuum over all populations of one species guarantees their species identity (Hartl & Clark 2006). This also means that individuals within one population, and m...

Cities can support biodiversity conservation as they often provide valuable secondary habitats for animals, and in particular invertebrates. In this context, Berlin – as a green capital – has a great potential and thus biodiversity surveys are mandatory to increase data availability. Urban dry grasslands are known to be especially diverse, but to d...

Two generic names recently described by J. Prószyński were found to be junior subjective synonyms: Pseudomogrus Simon, 1937 = Logunyllus Prószyński, 2016 syn. nov., Hermosa Peckham & Peckham, 1892 = Myrmavola Prószyński, 2016 syn. nov. This causes numerous new and a few revalidated combinations. The systematics of Myrmarachne MacLeay, 1839 s. lat....

Modern taxonomy and systematics profit from an invaluable tool that has been developed in the course of more than a century by intense discussions and negotiations of generations of zoologists and palaeontologists: The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN 1999, 2012). The main goal of the Code is “to promote stability and universalit...

Five spider species were collected at the end of April 2017 in Albania on the River Vjosa near the village of Kutë (40.4754°N, 19.7538°E, 47m a.s.l.). The species are briefly discussed and two of them, Marpissa pomatia and Marpissa nivoyi (Salticidae), are new records for Albania. The importance of the conservation of the natural status of the Rive...

Three generic names recently described by J. Prószyński were found to be junior synonyms, either objective (Sittipub Prószyński, 2016 = Hypositticus Lohmander, 1944) or subjective (Sittiflor Prószyński, 2017 = Calositticus Lohmander, 1944 and Evacin Prószyński, 2018 = Colopsus Simon, 1902). Two earlier subgenera of Sitticus Simon, 1901, Calositticu...

In the World Spider Catalog (WSC 2017) the formerly overlooked species Zelotes turcicus Seyyar, Demir & Aktaş, 2010 was recently added. Thus Zelotes turcicus Wunderlich, 2011 is a primary homonym and requires a new name. The author informed Jörg Wunderlich who approved the present author to carry out this formal renaming (without suggesting a new n...

In a long-term survey of the Strict Forest Reserves in Hesse (Central Germany) a faunistic inventory was conducted using a wide range of traps and hand sampling over a period of two years. Five of the six sites are beech forest types (dominating: Fagus sylvatica), and one is a floodplain oak forest (dominating: Quercus robur). Although no special r...

The World Spider Catalog (WSC 2016) currently lists Peucetia longipes Pocock, 1899 as a senior synonym of P. casseli Simon, 1899; according to Niekerk & Dippenaar-Schoeman (1994: 16). The synonymy decision per se is not to be doubted but, regarding the senior name choice, it was stated that “As both P. [Peucetia] longipes and P. casseli were descri...

Climate change, land-use change, pollution and exploitation are among the main drivers of species’ population trends; however, their relative importance is much debated. We used a unique collection of over 1,000 local population time series in 22 communities across terrestrial, freshwater and marine realms within central Europe to compare the impac...

The first record of the snow fly species Chionea austriaca (Christian, 1980) in Germany is reported. The sites are situated in Bavaria in the eastern part of the German Alps (Watzmann massif) in the Berchtesgaden National Park in caves close to the Austrian border, over 2000 m a.s.l. The syntopic catch of Chionea alpina (Bezzi, 1908) marks the seco...

In the years 1995, 2000, 2006 and 2011 the spider fauna of the short rotation coppice Wöllershof (Upper Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany) was investigated with pitfall traps and photo eclectors on the ground. The research took place in the period from May to October, and additionally in one winter (2006/2007) with pitfall traps. For comparison, adjacen...

The first record of the snow fly species Chionea austriaca (Christian, 1980) in Germany is reported. The sites are situated in Bavaria in the eastern part of the German Alps (Watzmann massif) in the Berchtesgaden National Park in caves close to the Austrian border, over 2000 m a.s.l. The syntopic catch of Chionea alpina (Bezzi, 1908) marks the seco...

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009;...

This plot is not part of the published stance but derives from it. The plot shows the number of authors by geographic region (courtesy of Dr. Diego Astua).

The updated checklist contains 992 taxa, thereof 971 taxa were assessed in the Red List. 55 established taxa have been newly recorded since 1998, and 5 have been split. 18 species had to be removed, most due to the strict utilisation of the criteria of establishment, and 6 have been lumped with other species. Another 19 species have been recorded f...

The updated checklist contains 52 taxa. Four species have been newly recorded since 2004, one species had to be removed. The red data list is prepared according to the present requirements of the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN). For each taxon the updated frequency in Germany is classified into one of six criteria classes, from...

The updated checklist contains 50 taxa. Since 2004, two species have been recorded as new, one has been split, and two species had to be removed from the list. The red data list is prepared according to the present requirements of the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN). For each taxon the frequency in Germany is classified into one...

All records of the two amblypygid species occurring in the Western Palaearctic are mapped and both species (Charinus ioanniticus and Musicodamon atlanteus) are discussed. Charinus ioanniticus is known from the Eastern Mediterranean (Greece, Turkey, Israel and Egypt) from 10 localities and Musicodamon atlanteus is known from the Maghreb (Morocco, Al...

A surprisingly large number of European spider species have never been reliably rediscovered since their first description many decades ago. Most of these are probably synonymous with other species or unidentifiable, due to insufficient descriptions or missing type material. In this second part of a series on this topic, we discuss about 100 of the...

With the nomination of the ‘Cave Animal of the Year’ the Society of German Cave and Karst Explorers calls public and authorities’ attention to the understudied biodiversity of subterranean ecosystems. Here the Cave Animal of the Year 2016, Amilenus aurantiacus (Simon, 1881), is presented. It is the first time that a harvestman has been chosen. Its...

About the Strict Forest Reserve Stirnberg, Hesse, Germany

Farmland is a major land cover type in Europe and Africa and provides habitat for numerous species. The severe decline in farmland biodiversity of the last decades has been attributed to changes in farming practices, and organic and low-input farming are assumed to mitigate detrimental effects of agricultural intensification on biodiversity. Since...

Background Urban green spaces can harbor a considerable species richness of plants and animals. A few studies on single species groups indicate important habitat functions of cemeteries, but this land use type is clearly understudied compared to parks. Such data are important as they (i) illustrate habitat functions of a specific, but ubiquitous ur...

Location of sampled cemetery sections (grey) and sampled plots (small squares).

Coniopteryx hoelzeli H. Aspöck, 1965 (Insecta: Neuroptera: Coniopterygidae) was found during faunistic research from 1999 to 2001 in the Strict Forest Reserve ”Kinzigaue”. This is the first record of the species in Hesse and the northernmost worldwide. Circumstances of capturing lead to additional information on the biology and ecology of this rare...

The inventory of the spider fauna of the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park (northern Hesse, Germany) is based on four types of zoological research. (a) The investigation of the Strict Forest Reserve “Locheiche”, which is part of the National Park, follows the standards established for zoological research in other Strict Forest Reserves in Hesse. A t...

The spider fauna of the Rabenstein, in the eastern part of the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park, was investigated by sampling at nine sites. Five pitfall traps were operated continuously at each site for 12 months from mid September 2012 to mid September 2013. On four dates additional hand collecting (sweeping, beating, searching on the ground) was...

In the second year of the inventory of the spider and carabid fauna of the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park the “Rabenstein” in the eastern part of the national park was investigated at nine sites. From mid September 2012 to mid September 2013, during 12 months, five pitfall traps were operated at each site. On four dates additional hand collecting...

A surprisingly large number of European spider species have never been reliably rediscovered since their first description many decades ago. Most of these are probably synonymous with other species or unidentifiable, due to insufficient descriptions or missing type material. Here we discuss about 50 of these cases, declare some names as nomina dubi...

In 1990 the Federal State of Hesse (Germany) started a long-term faunistic research programme in selected Strict Forest Reserves. Here we report the results of the inventory of pseudoscorpions from seven reserves: Goldbachs- und Ziebachsrück, Hasenblick, Hohestein, Kinzigaue, Niddahänge east of Rudingshain, Schönbuche and Stirnberg. A total of 4567...

Die Kurzumtriebsplantage bei Wöllershof ist die älteste Versuchsfläche Bayerns, die sich wissenschaftlich mit der Produktion von Energieholz mittels schnellwachsender Baumarten auf Ackerflächen befasst. Seit über 20 Jahren beeindruckt die Versuchsfläche mit hohen Energieholzmengen und interessanten Ergebnissen zu ökologischen Fragestellungen.

Analyses of species traits have increased our understanding of how environmental drivers such as disturbances affect the composition of arthropod communities and related processes. There are, however, few studies on which traits in the arthropod community are affected by environmental changes and which traits affect ecosystem functioning. The assem...

Insgesamt konnten bisher 343 Spinnenarten aus 22 Familien im Nationalpark Unteres Odertal nachgewiesen werden (Tabelle 2). 38 bzw. 31 sind in der Roten Liste Brandenburgs bzw. Deutschlands aufgeführt – insgesamt weisen 50 Arten einen Gefährdungsstatus auf. Besonders hervorzuheben sind die Springspinne Sitticus distinguendus, die in Brandenburg vom...

the strict forest reserve Kinzigaue more than 950,000 animals were trapped in a period of two years using a broad set of trap types and specific hand sampling. A wide spectrum of animal groups was determined to species level, representing 27.1 % of the German fauna. In total 1,923 species were determined, which by extrapolation indicates that more...

With the help of numerous mainly voluntary contributors it was possible to incorporate further animal groups in the study, investigated at different levels of intensity (completely, subgroups, random samples). Of these, the Amphibia, Amphipoda, Branchiopoda, Ephemeroptera, Hirudinea, Isopoda, Mammalia, Maxillopoda, Neuroptera, Opiliones, Orthoptera...

Strict Forest Reserve Kinzigaue, Zoological Research 1999-2001, Part 2

As part of the GEO Biodiversity Day, on 16 June 2012 an assessment of the flora and fauna in the cross-border Palatinate Forest-Northern Vosges Biosphere Reserve was conducted. The Rhineland-Palatinate Nature and Environment Foundation directed the event, together with GEO magazine and the two sponsoring associations of the cross-border UNESCO Pala...

As part of the GEO Biodiversity Day, on 16 June 2012 an assessment of the flora and fauna in the cross-border Palatinate Forest-Northern Vosges Biosphere Reserve was 31 conducted. The Rhineland-Palatinate Nature and Environment Foundation directed the event, together with GEO magazine and the two sponsoring associations of the cross-border UNESCO P...

Silometopus ambiguus (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1905) is a species occurring in coastal habitats from northeastern to western Europe. S. curtus (Simon, 1881), occurring in southern France and north-eastern Spain, was for a long time mixed up with S. ambiguus, even though corrections have been published very early and several times. This contribution su...

The design of sampling schemes affects the results of biodiversity inventories. As an approach for quantifying the implications of such effects, we compared data on spider communities sampled in a beech-dominated forest floor habitat by 1) a regular grid of pitfall traps (systematic design) and 2) an expert-based distribution of traps (stratified d...

In the north-western part of the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park the spider and carabid fauna was investigated at nine sites. From mid July 2011 to mid July 2012, during 12 months, five pitfall traps were operated at each site. On four dates additional hand collecting (sweeping, beating, searching on the ground) was done. This contribution describ...

In the north-western part of the Kellerwald- Edersee National Park the spider fauna was investigated at nine sites. Continuously during 12 months from mid July 2011 to mid July 2012, five pitfall traps were operated at each site. On four dates additional hand collecting (sweeping, beating, searching on the ground) was done. A total of 9371 spiders...

A zoological survey of the spider fauna (Arachnida: Araneae) in the park of the Fasanerie-Palace near Fulda-Eichenzell (Hesse, Germany) was conducted using several methods (sweeping, a Malaise trap, pitfall traps at nine sites) and additionally at several special locations (an ice cellar, two springs). A total of 101 spider species and 17 spider fa...

The joint research project ELKE attends to the question, in how far extensive cropping systems32 for the production of renewable resources can provide certain ecological benefits. On the practical level the project focusses on the applicability of these systems as compensation measures. This report summarizes the results of three years of practical...

After a release of genetically modified organisms, monitoring of potential adverse effects on the environment is mandatory. The protocol used for monitoring should be previously tested in practical studies and must be standardised. Moreover, sampling methods and the evaluation of results must meet current scientific and technical standards. Due to...

Aim Conservation studies often investigate the biodiversity of one taxonomic group with the expectation that it reflects biodiversity of other taxa as well. However, previous studies have found that biodiversity patterns are often only weakly correlated across ecologically very different taxa. Using three arthropod taxa that share the same habitat,...

see: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ddi.12021/suppinfo

The fauna of the Strict Forest Reserve (31.3 ha) and its adjacent managed site (36.9 ha) "Goldbachs-und Ziebachsrück" (Hesse, Germany) was inventoried over a period of two years. The study area is situated in the mountainous part of northern Hesse, Germany (300–365 m a.s.l., coordinates 9° 53' E, 50° 56' N). Mean temperature 8°C, mean annual precip...

Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Germany Since 1970, strict forest reserves have been established all over Germany to gain a spectrum of total reserves, which allow the development of "primeval forests of tomorrow" and are available for research and as reference areas for silviculture. The first Hessian reserves were established in 1988...

Flowery field margins and intersowing of crops with flowers are used as management practices to promote arthropod biodiversity as well as biocontrol agents. Positive effects of enhancement (in abundance and species richness) of hymenopteran parasitoids on control of Lepidoptera pests have previously been demonstrated. However, effects on predatory...