Habitat harshness and morphodynamics: life history traits of the mole crab Emerita brasiliensis in Uruguayan sandy beaches

Celentano, Eleonora; Defeo, Omar

doi:10.1007/s00227-006-0309-1

Cited by 36 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…At the population level, the Habitat Harshness Hypothesis (HHH: Defeo et al 2003) predicts that the harsh environment in reflective beaches forces organisms to invest more energy in maintenance than in reproduction and growth, result-ing in lower abundance, fecundity, growth and survival rates than in dissipative beaches. In agreement with SEH and HHH predictions, studies conducted worldwide have shown a consistent decrease in community (McLachlan 1990, Defeo et al 1992, McLachlan et al 1993, Jaramillo et al 2000, Soares 2003, Rodil & Lastra 2004, McLachlan & Dorvlo 2005 and population (truly intertidal species: Nel et al 2001, de la Huz et al 2002, Contreras et al 2003, Celentano & Defeo 2006, Delgado & Defeo 2008, Thompson & Sánchez De Bock 2009 indicators from dissipative to reflective beaches (but see Herrmann 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 58%

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Effects of morphodynamic and estuarine gradients on the demography and distribution of a sandy beach mole crab: implications for source–sink habitat dynamics

Celentano¹,

Gutiérrez²,

Defeo³

2010

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Several conceptual models relating biological and morphodynamic variables have been developed in sandy beach ecology. On estuarine sandy beaches, a major environmental factor influencing macrofaunal distribution is salinity. In this setting, the concurrent role of large-scale estuarine and morphodynamic gradients in shaping demographic patterns is still uncertain. To explain largescale variations in demographic aspects of the mole crab Emerita brasiliensis, 16 Uruguayan sandy beaches distributed along the estuarine gradient generated by the Rio de la Plata were characterized in terms of beach morphology, sediment traits and salinity over a 2 yr period. Abundance (total and discriminated by reproductive and recruitment components), biomass and body size of E. brasiliensis significantly increased from estuarine reflective to oceanic dissipative beaches. Further, generalized models (both additive and linear) showed that salinity, mean grain size and swash width were the most important explanatory factors of spatio-temporal variations in abundance. Sexually mature individuals and megalopae were almost absent in estuarine and oceanic reflective beaches, whereas oceanic dissipative beaches showed polymodal size structures with fully represented population components, together with extended reproductive and recruitment periods. We conclude that (1) morphodynamic and estuarine gradients are inextricably linked, affecting mole crab demography; and (2) estuarine and oceanic reflective beaches operate as sink habitats where populations do not prosper, whereas oceanic dissipative beaches act as source habitats. We thus provide empirical support to the source-sink hypothesis recently developed for sandy beaches. These long-term variations in demographic processes should be complemented by connectivity studies and genetic analyses in order to gain a deeper understanding of metapopulation dynamics in sandy beaches.KEY WORDS: Mole crab · Emerita · Demography · Salinity · Sandy beaches · Morphodynamics · Generalized additive models 398: 193-205, 2010 ing in lower abundance, fecundity, growth and survival rates than in dissipative beaches. In agreement with SEH and HHH predictions, studies conducted worldwide have shown a consistent decrease in community (McLachlan 1990, Defeo et al. 1992, McLachlan et al. 1993, Jaramillo et al. 2000, Soares 2003, Rodil & Lastra 2004, McLachlan & Dorvlo 2005 and population (truly intertidal species: Nel et al. 2001, de la Huz et al. 2002, Contreras et al. 2003 In relation to the patterns found at the population level, it has been postulated that post-settlement processes prevent intertidal species from establishing populations on reflective beaches. Moreover, it has been hypothesized that dissipative beaches can act as 'source' habitats, whereas reflective beaches would constitute 'sink' habitats where reproduction patterns of resident species are insufficient to balance mortality. This has been called the 'source-sink hypothesis' for intertidal sandy beach populations (Defeo & McLac...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 58%

“…In particular, Emerita brasiliensis is commonly found in reflective and dissipative sandy beaches along the Atlantic coast of South America, from Venezuela to Uruguay (Defeo & Cardoso 2004, Celentano & Defeo 2006. E. brasiliensis has a planktonic larval stage and sedentary adult benthic stage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of morphodynamic and estuarine gradients on the demography and distribution of a sandy beach mole crab: implications for source–sink habitat dynamics

Celentano¹,

Gutiérrez²,

Defeo³

2010

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…Such trade-offs may differ vastly across environments, and individuals inhabiting extreme environmental conditions are expected to invest more energy in somatic maintenance than those residing in less harsh habitats (Sibly and Calow 1989;Celentano and Defeo 2006). Extreme environmental conditions are defined as requiring, of any organism tolerating them, costly adaptations that are absent in most related species (Townsend et al 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sperm production in an extremophile fish, the cave molly (Poecilia mexicana, Poeciliidae, Teleostei)

et al. 2007

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A prominent trade-off in life history theory and evolution balances the costs of reproduction with those of basic somatic needs. Hence, reproductive efforts may be reduced in environments where additional energy is required for somatic maintenance. Here, we investigated male sperm stores in Atlantic mollies (Poecilia mexicana) from a sulfidic cave and several sulfidic and non-sulfidic surface habitats. We found significant differences among populations in the number of sperm stripped per male, which was also correlated with differences in gonad weights. The largest sperm stores were detected in males from non-sulfidic surface creeks, while males from a partially sulfidic surface system had lower sperm counts, and males from completely sulfidic systems, surface as well as subterranean, had even fewer available sperm. We conclude that the extreme environmental conditions in sulfidic habitats appear to constrain male sperm production, since hydrogen sulfide as a naturally occurring toxin requires energy-demanding adaptations. Furthermore, we examined sperm counts of lab-reared cave and surface mollies in response to energy limitation. Males from stock populations were placed under high and low food treatments for a 2-week period and then stripped of sperm. Sperm counts of surface mollies tended to be reduced by low food availability, whereas sperm counts of cave mollies did not significantly vary between food treatments, which likely points towards a higher starvation resistance in cave mollies.

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“…Rating systems for beach types (Short and Wright 1983) and beach exposure (McLachlan 1980) were used for a variety of previous studies investigating sandy beaches with contrasting morphodynamics (e.g. Souza and Gianuca 1995;Calliari et al 1996;Gómez and Defeo 1999;Ricciardi and Bourget 1999;Jaramillo et al 2000;Nel et al 2001;Veloso and Cardoso 2001;de la Huz et al 2002;Defeo and Martínez 2003;Laudien et al 2003;Brazeiro 2005;Celentano and Defeo 2006;Delgado and Defeo 2007;Schlacher and Thompson 2008;Herrmann et al 2009b). Due to the ability to absorb wave energy, the sandy beach ecosystem is one of the most debitable types of dynamic coastlines.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population structure, growth and production of the yellow clam Mesodesma mactroides (Bivalvia: Mesodesmatidae) from a high-energy, temperate beach in northern Argentina

et al. 2010

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The yellow clam Mesodesma mactroides (Bivalvia: Mesodesmatidae) was once the most abundant intertidal species on the Atlantic coast of northern Argentina and an important commercial resource in South America. This study of a population inhabiting the intertidal zone of the sheltered-dissipative sandy beach Santa Teresita documents the species' population biology, including demographic structure, growth and production during December 2004 and December 2006, and adumbrates the critical state of M. mactroides at present. A total of 3,015 M. mactroides were collected and measured, whereas individuals were found with an anterior-posterior shell length between 2 and 64 mm. A von Bertalanffy growth function with an asymptotic length (L ? ) of 85 mm and a growth constant (K) of 0.47 year -1 was established from length-frequency distributions. The longevity of the species is estimated at approximately 6 years, and instantaneous mortality rate was about three times higher than 40 years ago. Besides, this study confirmed that the overall growth performance index (OGP) is habitat-specific and can be used to group M. mactroides and M. donacium from different areas into temperate and upwelling species. Furthermore, OGP is inversely correlated with the latitudinal distribution of Mesodesma populations. The intertidal biomass ranged between 0.06 and 0.07 g AFDM m -2 year -1 . Individual production was observed to be highest at 47 mm length (0.35 g AFDM m -2 year -1 ), and annual production ranged between 0.12 and 0.19 g AFDM m -2 year -1 , resulting in productivity values (P/B) between 1.84 and 2.93. The comparison of the results of the present study with those of growth studies conducted on M. mactroides 40 years ago revealed the following considerable differences in the population structure of M. mactroides, indicating the conservation status of this intertidal bivalve as endangered: (1) present growth rates are faster, but that the maximum length attained has decreased, (2) the numbers of individuals per square metre were many times higher in the past than in the present, (3) bivalves from the present work never reached the 'commercial size' of 60 mm and (4) 40 years ago, the population of M. mactroides was composed of up to three cohorts, whereas in this study, there was only one single cohort visible.

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Habitat harshness and morphodynamics: life history traits of the mole crab Emerita brasiliensis in Uruguayan sandy beaches

Cited by 36 publications

References 26 publications

Effects of morphodynamic and estuarine gradients on the demography and distribution of a sandy beach mole crab: implications for source–sink habitat dynamics

Effects of morphodynamic and estuarine gradients on the demography and distribution of a sandy beach mole crab: implications for source–sink habitat dynamics

Sperm production in an extremophile fish, the cave molly (Poecilia mexicana, Poeciliidae, Teleostei)

Population structure, growth and production of the yellow clam Mesodesma mactroides (Bivalvia: Mesodesmatidae) from a high-energy, temperate beach in northern Argentina

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