An observation of baboon spider mortality resulting from fire in Tembe Elephant Park, South Africa

Abstract

The impacts of fire mortality on invertebrates have not been studied directly. More often, community level changes in response to differing burning regimes are usually studied. Indirect fire effects from habitat modification such as a decrease in cover or reduced prey availability are considered to pose a greater threat to such species than the direct effect of fire. In this paper, fire was shown to have a negative impact on ground dwelling spider taxa within South African grassland habitats. Fire related mortality in baboon spiders has not been reported in the literature.