The new findings have broader implications for understanding extreme weather events’ effects on animal behavior

>>In the aftermath of the 2018 hurricane season, aggressive colonies of spiders thrived, while predominantly docile groups struggled to survive.

As researchers led by Jonathan Pruitt of Ontario’s McMaster University report in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, this trend—documented during on-site expeditions to regions ravaged by Tropical Storm Alberto, Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael—suggests that the increasing prevalence of climate change-driven extreme weather events could have unexpected side effects on native wildlife. For Anelosimus studiosus specifically, the Miami Herald’s Alex Harris explains, hurricanes appear to act as a form of natural selection, shifting successful spider populations to the more aggressive end of the spectrum.

“It is tremendously important to understand the environmental impacts of these ‘black swan’ weather events”—defined as surprising occurrences with effects only understood thanks to hindsight—“on evolution and natural selection,” Pruitt concludes in a statement. “As sea levels rise, the incidence of tropical storms will only increase. Now more than ever we need to contend with what the ecological and evolutionary impacts of these storms will be for non-human animal.”<<

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/hurricanes-are-making-spider-species-more-aggressive-180972936/