Several wildland parks and two ecological reserves have recently been established in the northeast corner of Alberta (Figure 1). Colin-Cornwall Lakes Fidler-Greywillow, La Butte Creek and Maybelle...
Description
Several wildland parks and two ecological reserves have recently been established in the northeast corner of Alberta (Figure 1). Colin-Cornwall Lakes Fidler-Greywillow, La Butte Creek and Maybelle River Wildland Parks are located in the Canadian Shield Natural Region. Egg Island and Athabasca Dunes Ecological Reserves are also located in that Natural Region. Birch Mountains, Marguerite River and Richardson River Dunes Wildland Parks are within the Boreal Forest Natural Region (Alberta Environmental Protection 1998). These wildland parks contain numerous and important examples of Alberta's biodiversity. Much of it is poorly understood or unknown, particularly the invertebrate fauna. The spider fauna is no exception. As Aitchison and Sutherland (2000) state, "…information on the composition and functioning of the boreal forest arachnid community [in Canada] remains sketchy". The spider specimens that were collected during this survey are the first for these wildland parks of...