Everyone should start counting spiders

[jfz9580m]

Last edited Fri Oct 27, 2023, 02:45 AM - Edit history (1)

I have always considered spiders cool..though I am a bit afraid of the large ones..

https://knowablemagazine.org/article/living-world/2023/everyone-should-start-counting-spiders

Then I learned about jumping spiders: I’ve reported on their impressive vision (as good as a cat’s in some ways!), their surprising smarts (they make plans!) and the discovery that they have REM sleep (and may even dream!). I was hooked.

In fact, all over the world, all sorts of spiders seem to be disappearing, says conservation biologist Pedro Cardoso of the University of Lisbon. He and a colleague polled a hundred spider experts and enthusiasts globally about the threats facing the animals. “It’s more or less unanimous that something is happening,” he says.

But there are no hard data to prove this.

For most potentially endangered spiders, there aren’t enough data to consider them for protection. We can’t help spiders if we don’t know which species are in trouble, or where and why they’re disappearing. And if you don’t care about the loss of spiders for their own sake, consider that crashing spider populations are bad news for a whole host of animals — including us.

I would add a word of caution to that article in the context of wildlife rescue/cataloguing though..while community science projects are cool, people should take care not to disrupt the ways of the wild. Or it might be worse for the poor spiders or any other wildlife! It is always good when people take more interest in non-human life and recognize how much coolness we stand to lose in our pursuit of more shopping malls and other drivel. But tourism for instance actually disrupts and pollutes wild spaces often-more plastic waste, more noise, encroachment and intrusion.
So it should be done with care if it is done at all. Though it is always great when people take more friendly interest in the non-human world.

This is also neat :
https://knowablemagazine.org/article/mind/2021/are-spiders-intelligent