Collaborative research: arts: integrative revisionary systematics of multiple radiations of extreme short-range endemic cybaeid spiders from the california floristic province

The National Science Foundation Division of Environmental Biology awarded $559,979 to the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History Foundation on June 1, 2026, for collaborative research on soil-associated Cybaeid spiders endemic to the California Floristic Province. The project combines extensive fieldwork and museum-based work with digital microscopy and genomic analysis to discover and describe locally distributed spider species across California's soil ecosystems. Researchers will employ modern taxonomic and molecular tools to study micro short-range endemic taxa—species with distribution areas of less than 1,000 square kilometers—across multiple spider radiations, with findings intended to identify and prioritize California regions with unique biodiversity. The project includes a bioinformatics bootcamp course on spider identification and biotechnology, designed to train undergraduate students in biodiversity sciences and modern genomic methods. Performance runs through May 31, 2029, at Dockweiler, California. This is assistance under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074), which supports basic research to advance biological sciences and address major national problems. The Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History Foundation operates the largest natural history collection on the West Coast with over 35 million specimens and artifacts.

Abstract

Soil-associated organisms represent a large proportion of earth?S biodiversity, but knowledge about these organisms is very limited, with most species yet to be discovered and studied. Many soil-associated organisms are found in only small areas. For example, some are found in areas no larger than 300 square miles, and even less is known about these types of organisms. Spiders are important components of this soil-associated biodiversity. This project seeks to discover and describe part of the vast diversity of locally distributed spiders inhabiting soil in california using extensive fieldwork and museum work, combining with modern tools in digital microscopy and genomics. Understanding biodiversity and species histories across multiple groups of soil spiders will provide researchers with valuable information for recognizing and prioritizing regions in california having high levels of unique biodiversity. This project will also conduct a course focused on spider identification and biotechnology, via a bioinformatics bootcamp to help train the next generation of students in biodiversity sciences and spider research using modern genomic tools and spatial data. Micro short-range endemic taxa (MICROSRES) represent species with limited distribution areas, usually less than 1,000 square kilometers. Because of microhabitat specificity, microsre are closely tied to landscapes, more so than most other terrestrial animal taxa. This close association with landscapes implies extreme dispersal limitation, making them extremely rare at the global level and of conservation relevance. MICROSRES present special challenges in revisionary systematics but also provide profound and unique insight in studies of the speciation process, regional biogeography, spatial phylogenetics, and landscape conservation. Because of ecological niche conservatism, microsre taxa illustrate processes of a ?divergence under niche conservatism? Model of speciation. This project aims to conduct integrative revisionary systematics and address coincident evolutionary and biogeographical questions for parallel radiations of related cybaeid spider genera from the endangered california floristic province (CAFP). This project involves extensive fieldwork in the CAFP, emphasizing litter and soil surface sampling. Freshly collected samples will fill sampling gaps for revisionary systematics, provide fresh specimens for phylogenomics, and result in multiple 1000S of expertly curated ?by-catch? Arthropod specimens, to serve as important genomic and morphological vouchers in studies of other rare and endemic taxa. Multiple phylogenomic datasets of largely CO-distributed taxa will be used to test riverine barrier and elevational tiering biogeographic hypotheses, and be used to conduct spatial phylogenetic analyses, helping to understand multi-taxon phylogenetic diversity and endemicity hotspots in the california floristic province. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.