Microclimates associated with environmental and geographic factors directly affect the ability of an organism to survive in a particular area. Survival is affected by: predator/prey abundance, temperature, relative humidity. A group of organisms that are particularly prone to habitat sensitivity are web-building spiders, because building the web commits them to a particular site for a period of time. Anelosimus studiosus is a small (~8 mm) Theridiid spider that exhibits varying degrees of sociality: a subsocial phenotype and a social phenotype. Population densities of A. studiosus vary significantly among seemingly suitable habitats within its range in east Tennessee. I conducted a large-scale survey of east Tennessee lake systems to establish connections between spider presence and geographic features such as aspect, slope and elevation. These geographic features were shown to have a strong impact on overall spider density.
","abstract_html":"<p>Microclimates associated with environmental and geographic factors directly affect the ability of an organism to survive in a particular area. Survival is affected by: predator/prey abundance, temperature, relative humidity. A group of organisms that are particularly prone to habitat sensitivity are web-building spiders, because building the web commits them to a particular site for a period of time. <em>Anelosimus studiosus</em> is a small (~8 mm) Theridiid spider that exhibits varying degrees of sociality: a subsocial phenotype and a social phenotype. Population densities of <em>A. studiosus</em> vary significantly among seemingly suitable habitats within its range in east Tennessee. I conducted a large-scale survey of east Tennessee lake systems to establish connections between spider presence and geographic features such as aspect, slope and elevation. These geographic features were shown to have a strong impact on overall spider density.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Linville, Brent"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MS (Master of Science)","degree_level":"Thesis - restricted","degree_discipline":"Biology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2011-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:20:06Z","subjects":["Anelosimus studiosus","GIS","demographic survey","suitable habitat","environmental correlates","social spider","distribution","Ecology and Evolutionary Biology","Life Sciences","Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright by the authors."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1253","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Linville, Brent"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["1990-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2011-05-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Biology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - restricted"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS (Master of Science)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Anelosimus studiosus","GIS","demographic survey","suitable habitat","environmental correlates","social spider","distribution","Ecology and Evolutionary Biology","Life Sciences","Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright by the authors."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dc.etsu.edu/context/etd/article/2444/viewcontent/LinvilleB033011f.pdf","https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1253"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Microclimates associated with environmental and geographic factors directly affect the ability of an organism to survive in a particular area. Survival is affected by: predator/prey abundance, temperature, relative humidity. A group of organisms that are particularly prone to habitat sensitivity are web-building spiders, because building the web commits them to a particular site for a period of time. Anelosimus studiosus is a small (~8 mm) Theridiid spider that exhibits varying degrees of sociality: a subsocial phenotype and a social phenotype. Population densities of A. studiosus vary significantly among seemingly suitable habitats within its range in east Tennessee. I conducted a large-scale survey of east Tennessee lake systems to establish connections between spider presence and geographic features such as aspect, slope and elevation. These geographic features were shown to have a strong impact on overall spider density.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Biogeographic Analysis of the Socially Polyphenic Spider Anelosimus studiosus in East Tennessee."]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Linville, Brent"],"dc:date.available":["1990-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2011-05-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Microclimates associated with environmental and geographic factors directly affect the ability of an organism to survive in a particular area. Survival is affected by: predator/prey abundance, temperature, relative humidity. A group of organisms that are particularly prone to habitat sensitivity are web-building spiders, because building the web commits them to a particular site for a period of time. Anelosimus studiosus is a small (~8 mm) Theridiid spider that exhibits varying degrees of sociality: a subsocial phenotype and a social phenotype. Population densities of A. studiosus vary significantly among seemingly suitable habitats within its range in east Tennessee. I conducted a large-scale survey of east Tennessee lake systems to establish connections between spider presence and geographic features such as aspect, slope and elevation. These geographic features were shown to have a strong impact on overall spider density.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dc.etsu.edu/context/etd/article/2444/viewcontent/LinvilleB033011f.pdf","https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1253"],"dc:rights":["Copyright by the authors."],"dc:subject":["Anelosimus studiosus","GIS","demographic survey","suitable habitat","environmental correlates","social spider","distribution","Ecology and Evolutionary Biology","Life Sciences","Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology"],"dc:title":["A Biogeographic Analysis of the Socially Polyphenic Spider Anelosimus studiosus in East Tennessee."],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Biology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - restricted"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS (Master of Science)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:20:06Z"}