Spider (Araneae) and harvestman (Opiliones) communities are structured by the ecosystem engineering of burrowing mammals

Burrowing mammals through their digging activities are important ecosystem engineers and bioturbators in grassland ecosystems. Through habitat formation, they can have significant effects on other species in an ecosystem, structuring their abundance and diversity. We analysed the effect of the European ground squirrel ( Spermophilus citellus ) on spider (Araneae) and harvestman (Opiliones) communities, because these arachnids are the most...