Furthermore, these results underline the need to explore a mechanistic explanation for the differences between beetle and spider results. For instance, microclimate, plant community composition, and arthropod dispersal ability likely all play a role in determining the exchange and overlap of spiders and beetles in the three habitat types studied here Finally, our results demonstrate that natural or near-natural habitat in close proximity to crop areas may provide benefits to conservation. There is increasing evidence that biological diversity in and around agroecosystems provides benefits for agricultural production; pollinators, for instance, may benefit from foraging in agricultural areas to supplement their diet while also enhancing pollination of cultivated plants(DeMarco& Coelho 2004, Sandino 2004). Similar benefits may accrue for arthropod pest control (Marc et al. 1999), especially for more specialized predators such as some spiders, because different species require different habitats (Marc& Canard 1997). Hence tropical forest fragments may critically affect diversity in cultivated areas and vice versa. This sort of interchange between natural and cultivated areas norms the basis or a broader ecological approach to the interface of conservation and farming that is gaining global momentum (Thies& Tscharntke 1999, Landis et al. 2000; Jackson& Jackson 2002, Banks, 2004).