Changes in landuse/landcover affect distribution and habitat of the land crab,<i>Cardisoma guanhumi</i>(Gecarcinidae, Decapoda) in two estuaries in Puerto Rico

Govender, Yogani; Thomlinson, John R.

doi:10.18475/cjos.v46i2.a14

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…The cause of habitat loss at JBE is two fold, anthropogenic conversion of land from mangroves to urban development or agriculture and impacts of sea level rise due to climate change. Numerous studies show that highest densities of C. guanhumi were associated with mangroves forests (Govender & Thomlinson, 2010;Carmona-Suárez & Guerra-Castro, 2012). During the years 2004 to 2012 the increase of crab size coincides with the mangroves recovery.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With urban development and agriculture around the JBE replacing crab habitat (Govender, 2007;Govender & Thomlinson, 2010), the remaining areas to capture crabs are within NPA's. While majority of crab hunters are aware of size restrictions they continued to capture smaller crabs because the rely on the supplementary income from crab fishery.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Decreasing crab sizes can therefore be explained by crab hunter behavior at JBE that follows the "tragedy of the commons" principle due to market demand. The spatial distribution of capture size can be explained by changes to the landuse/ landcover and habitat loss (Govender & Thomlinson, 2010). The cause of habitat loss at JBE is two fold, anthropogenic conversion of land from mangroves to urban development or agriculture and impacts of sea level rise due to climate change.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Forsee & Albrecht (2012) and Rodríguez-Fourquet & Sabat (2009) found that the harvesting was high in Natural Protected Areas (NPA), possibly explaining declining crab size. Govender & Thomlinson (2010) found that drastic population declines were due to loss of habitat, which is principally mangroves. Land use conversion from mangroves to agriculture and/or urban development coincided with crab population declines.…”

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Long-term monitoring of crab Cardisoma guanhumi (Decapoda: Gecarcinidae) captures in Jobos Bay Estuary, Puerto Rico

Govender

2019

RBT

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The densities of the land crab Cardisoma guanhumi has been dropping for the past decades, as a result numerous management strategies, laws and regulations throughout the tropics have been developed to reduce population declines. The reasons for declines include: overfishing, habitat degradation and loss, and continued capture in Natural Protected Areas (NPA). In Puerto Rico, an admistrative order of 1999, regulates a closed season, prohibits the captures of crabs through the year from NPA and has a legal size for capture (64 mm). The goal of this research was to monitor spatial-temporal dynamics of captures for C. guanhumi after the implementation of the admistrative order. Crabs captured from thirty-one hunters in six communities surrounding the Jobos Bay Estuary (JBE) in south east Puerto Rico was studied over a period of 15 years, 2004 through 2018. The size (carapace width and length), sex and color were documented for 1531 crabs. There was significant difference in crab size through time and space. The smallest crabs with captured in the west of JBE and in the year 2004, while the largest crabs were captured in the west and in 2013. As expected smaller hunting areas had smaller crabs due to higher hunting pressure. Further, there was significant difference in crab color by size, smaller crabs were orange, intermediate size was brown and larger crabs were blue. Color of crab can therefore be used to determine legal limit. From 2009 to 2018 three percent of hunters captured crabs smaller than the legal-size limit. Although there was no significant relationship between climate (temperature, rainfall) and crab size, smaller crabs were captured in 2013-2016 during years of lower rainfall. Also, crab size increase from 2004 until 2013 coincided with mangrove recovery in the JBE. The laws and management strategies in Puerto Rico for the protection of crabs by size and prohibition in NPA, is not enough. Therefore, the impact of climate variability, sea level rise and anthropogenic pressures on crab habitat, therefore, warrants further investigation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Long-term monitoring of crab Cardisoma guanhumi (Decapoda: Gecarcinidae) captures in Jobos Bay Estuary, Puerto Rico

Govender

2019

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“…Puerto Rico is an island 111 miles long by 39.5 miles wide, in the Caribbean (Fig. 1) experiencing rapid urban development in both metropolitan and rural areas, resulting in loss of biodiversity, habitat loss and major environmental problems [7,8], such as the impacts to main sources of freshwater from the karst regions of Puerto Rico [9]. The Rio Grande of Manatí Watershed (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Citizen Science a Tool for Community Engagement in Parks with an Urban Dominating Landscapes in Puerto Rico

Govender¹,

Faría²,

Maldonado³

et al. 2016

MESE

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With a population of 3.5 million on an island of 100 miles long and in severe economic crisis partners for the conservation of biodiversity is crucial for the sustainability of urban natural protected areas (NPA surrounded by large population centers, IUCN). The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico (CTPR) is using citizen science (CS) an informal science education method to engage citizens in nature. While the conventional model for CS is a participant attending a workshop or training session, learn standard methodologies to measure and assess species, habitats and ecosystems from a scientist and then go off to collect data on their own and share data with the scientist, the CTPR propose an alternative model that includes the scientist with citizens, throughout the spatial and temporal long-term data collection. In this model, the citizens are mentored by the scientists or scientist assistant to pass through the different phase of the Informal Science Education model (contributory, collaborative, co-created). The main goal is to enable the citizens to develop the skills of scientific inquiry and to address environmental concerns within their community. Of the 1300 participants 19 have developed community based projects to better understand their environment and the impacts of urban development. The co-creator participants have used three levels of communication to disseminate findings of biodiversity in NPA along an urban gradient. The citizen science research projects conclude that urban protected areas play an important functional role in the watershed.

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Management and conservation of the land crab Cardisoma guanhumi (Crustacea: Gecarcinidae) based on environmental and fishery factors: a case study in Brazil

Santos

Boos

Sano

et al. 2022

Wetlands Ecol Manage

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Changes in landuse/landcover affect distribution and habitat of the land crab,Cardisoma guanhumi(Gecarcinidae, Decapoda) in two estuaries in Puerto Rico

Cited by 6 publications

References 15 publications

Long-term monitoring of crab Cardisoma guanhumi (Decapoda: Gecarcinidae) captures in Jobos Bay Estuary, Puerto Rico

Long-term monitoring of crab Cardisoma guanhumi (Decapoda: Gecarcinidae) captures in Jobos Bay Estuary, Puerto Rico

Citizen Science a Tool for Community Engagement in Parks with an Urban Dominating Landscapes in Puerto Rico

Management and conservation of the land crab Cardisoma guanhumi (Crustacea: Gecarcinidae) based on environmental and fishery factors: a case study in Brazil

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