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 d