Comparative evaluation of crustaceans as bioindicators of human impact on Brazilian sandy beaches

Suciu, Marjorie Cremonez; Tavares, Davi Castro; Zalmon, Ilana Rosental

doi:10.1093/jcbiol/ruy027

Cited by 25 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…Coastal managers often require ecological data to set up successful conservation plans. As a simple tool, burrow counts have been used previously ( see [20]) as a reliable indicator of population density and dynamics and individual sizes [34, 54–56]. As mentioned by [57] for density of sandy beach organisms, we suggest cross-shore sampling to determine the variations in population structure, burrowing behavior and distribution pattern, all of which can increase the strength of the data collected for management purposes.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of human disturbance on ghost crab burrow morphology and distribution on sandy shores

Gül

Griffen

2018

PLoS ONE

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Ghost crabs have been widely used as a bio-indicator species of human impacts on sandy beaches to obtain reliable biological data for management and conservation purposes. Ghost crab population densities and individual sizes decline dramatically under human pressure. However, distribution within a beach and the factors that determine this distribution of ghost crabs is still an open question. These factors may provide valuable information for understanding human impacts on sandy beaches. Here we examine ghost crab burrows on 20 sandy beaches of South Carolina, USA under various levels of human impacts to understand the response in terms of spatial distribution of this species to human impacts. We also examine the burrow characteristics and environmental properties of the burrows to determine whether these factors alter burrow characteristics. We show that crabs on heavily impacted beaches altered their spatial distribution to mostly occupy the edges of impacted beaches. Further, this change in spatial distribution was influenced by the size distribution of the population on a beach (i.e. larger individuals occupy upper parts on the beaches). We also found that ghost crabs altered the morphology of their burrows on heavily impacted beaches. Ghost crabs create deeper, steeper and smaller burrows under human impacts. These patterns were also influenced by physical characteristics of the beach. Our results suggest that human impacts can directly influence the spatial distribution of ghost crab populations within a beach and therefore sampling at upper parts of the beaches overestimates the population density and individual sizes. Our results support the use of ghost crabs as indicator species in effective beach management, but suggest that assessments would benefit from examining the morphology and distribution of burrows as opposed to simply using burrow counts to assess the health of sandy shores.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of human disturbance on ghost crab burrow morphology and distribution on sandy shores

Gül

Griffen

2018

PLoS ONE

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“…Since 2013, the lower ghost crab abundance in high-impact beach sector compared to low-impact one on Grussaí Beach Arc has been attributed to urbanization and recreational activities ( Suciu et al, 2018 ; Machado et al, 2019 ; Costa and Zalmon, 2019 ). Even though ghost crab larvae potentially settle in the most impacted beach sectors, pulse and press disturbances have hindered metapopulation establishment in urban areas ( Costa and Zalmon, 2019 ; Costa et al, 2020b ; Machado et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even though ghost crab larvae potentially settle in the most impacted beach sectors, pulse and press disturbances have hindered metapopulation establishment in urban areas ( Costa and Zalmon, 2019 ; Costa et al, 2020b ; Machado et al, 2019 ). It is widely documented that trampling, vehicle traffic and beach cleaning alter the natural substrate stability and prevents the establishment and growth of macroinvertebrates worldwide, similar to ghost crabs in the region ( Machado et al, 2019 ; Suciu et al, 2018 ; Costa et al, 2020b ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recovery of ghost crabs metapopulations on urban beaches during the Covid-19 “anthropause”

Costa

Machado

Barboza

et al. 2022

Marine Environmental Research

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“…Animals, especially macroinvertebrates living in these regions, have already started to show their response towards these human disturbances. For example, ghost crab (Ocypode quadrata) populations respond by reducing their actual/burrow density (Neves and Bemvenuti 2006;Hobbs et al 2008;Suciu et al 2018;Gül and Griffen 2018a, b) and body/claw sizes (Hobbs et al 2008;Gül and Griffen 2018b;Gül and Griffen 2020). Moreover, their burrow morphology, fidelity, longevity, and distribution are highly affected by human disturbances (Gül and Griffen 2018a;Gül and Griffen 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human disturbance affects behavioural time allocation in a fiddler crab (<em>Austruca annulipes</em>) in Southern Thailand

Chumsri,

Tina,

Vongkok

et al. 2023

J. Anim. Behav. Biometeorol.

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Human disturbances affect the macroinvertebrate populations in coastal regions. They respond to disturbances by altering their density and behaviour. Therefore, many of them are used as bioindicator species of human disturbance. Here, we pioneer the use of fiddler crabs to examine whether they alter their behaviour under human disturbance. Male fiddler crabs possess one large claw used for courting (waving) and fighting, and one small feeding claw, whereas females have two feeding claws. They show several surface activities. This study investigates (1) the effects of human disturbance on density and sex-ratio, and (2) the effects of human disturbance, and sex on behavioural time allocations in Austruca annulipes. Their density, sex-ratio, and time allocations were investigated in human-disturbed area (DA) and nondisturbed area (NDA). They showed feeding, feeding and walking, walking, running, standing/vigilance, inside burrows, burrowing, grooming, fighting, and waving. The results showed that crab density was higher and the sex ratio was more male biased in NDA than in DA. Human disturbance and sex affected time allocations but their interaction had no effect. Crabs in DA spent more time running, standing, and inside burrows but less time walking, burrowing, fighting, and waving than crabs in NDA. Between sexes, males spent more time standing, burrowing, grooming, and fighting but less time feeding, and walking than females. This indicates that human disturbances force the crabs to spend more time on anti-predator and escape behavior (standing/vigilance, running, inside burrows) rather than courting (waving) and constructing burrows (mating/breeding sites), which are important for breeding.

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Comparative evaluation of crustaceans as bioindicators of human impact on Brazilian sandy beaches

Cited by 25 publications

References 67 publications

Impacts of human disturbance on ghost crab burrow morphology and distribution on sandy shores

Impacts of human disturbance on ghost crab burrow morphology and distribution on sandy shores

Recovery of ghost crabs metapopulations on urban beaches during the Covid-19 “anthropause”

Human disturbance affects behavioural time allocation in a fiddler crab (<em>Austruca annulipes</em>) in Southern Thailand

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