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1.
In the culture of mud crab Scylla serrata, cannibalism is often the greatest cause of mortality. A laboratory study was conducted to compare the influence of size class differences and shelter on cannibalism and limb loss in juvenile mud crabs (20–70 mm internal carapace width; ICW). Four size classes of juvenile crab (A: 21–30 mm, B: 31–40 mm, C: 41–50 mm and D: 51–70 mm ICW) were tested in all possible combinations using four different substrata with varying degree of shelter (seaweed, plastic strings, bamboo tubes and open sand substratum) in 48 h trials. Results suggest that cannibalistic interactions are heavily influenced both by size differences of crabs and the availability of shelter. Cannibalism on the smallest size class (20–30 mm ICW) increased about 10 times in the presence of the largest crab (51–70 mm ICW) compared with treatment with only same-size crabs (control treatment). Shelter provided little refuge for the smallest crabs, whereas cannibalism in larger size classes decreased by >50% in all the shelters compared with the sand substratum. The findings suggest that both size-grading and provision of shelter could minimise cannibalism in the culture of mud crabs.  相似文献   

2.
Mud crab (Scylla serrata) is a delicacy for subsistence consumption in fisher communities and tourist hotels in the coast of Kenya while export demand to markets in China and Japan is expanding and provides competitively higher prices. Crab exploitation and degradation of the mangrove forests have increased over the last decades therefore threatening the capture fishery. The preferred market size crab has consistently decreased from more than 1 kg two decades ago to the current size of 0.5 kg therefore posing both management and livelihood threat to the critical ecosystem (mangrove) and coastal populations. To meet the increased tourist and export demand and provide surplus for the local community while conserving the critical crab ecosystem, small-scale aquaculture has been initiated in the concept of silvofisheries. Initial culture methods have targeted sub-adult crabs of 150–350 g for culture to market size (>0.5 kg) in drive-in cages and pens (mud crab fattening). These technology attained survival of between 50 and 70% and a market price of 5 dollars per kilogram. However, research is ongoing to assess viability of stocking juvenile seed crabs directly in ponds as practised in South East Asia (SEA) as opposed to stocking of sub-adults in drive-in cages. In comparison with other areas, crab capture fisheries in East Africa have limited management and enforcement frameworks/capabilities within the wider regional fisheries policies. Also there is limited understanding of wild mud crab resources and suitable management options to avoid over-exploitation as observed in SEA. The double-edged demand (wild market size capture and juvenile capture for aquaculture) for mud crabs in addition to mangrove degradation are likely to cause great challenges to stock exploitation and livelihoods of the coastal people dependent on the resource. This review paper provides an inside onto the tradition, trends and options for development of mud crab capture and culture in Kenya.  相似文献   

3.
The mud crab Scylla serrata is lightly exploited along the East African seaboard. This study reports on fishing practices and gives preliminary estimates of abundance and size structures of the mud crab populations in Utende, Chole Island and Juani Island, Tanzania, and west of Quirimba and Ibo Island, Moçambique. Estimates for three mangrove habitats (in Tanzania); open channel (<1 per 25 m2), mangrove fringe (3 per 25 m2) and inner forest (1 per 25 m2) were obtained using burrow density and from burrow occupancy from fisheries data. Mud crabs from Tanzania were significantly smaller (carapace width) and less abundant (in terms of mass) than those from Moçambique. This newly exploited resource provides a potential alternative source of income, but local management and monitoring plans need to be implemented early.  相似文献   

4.
The typically anaerobic nature of mangrove sediments provides significant challenges to the mangrove trees and biota inhabiting them. The burrowing activities and flow of water through the numerous and complex animal burrows perforating the sediments of mangroves have a major influence on the biogeochemistry of the sediments and are important to the enhancement of nutrient and oxygen exchange. Two new methods are presented for monitoring the tidal flushing of Sesarma messa and Alpheus cf macklay burrows in a Rhizophora stylosa mangrove forest – by measuring oxygen content of burrow water and by determining the change in fluorescence of a dye tracer through tidal inundation. A case study using the first of these showed oxygen consumption rates at the burrow wall deep within the burrow were found to be between 210 and 460 μmol O2 m−2 h−1. The influx of oxygen during a flood tide was found to be significant and indicated that approximately 40% of the burrow water is flushed during a single tidal event. However, the high consumption rate of oxygen within the burrow resulted in the oxygen concentration remaining at or below one-third of the oxygen content of the flooding tidal water. A test application of the second method, using rhodamine dye as a tracer, indicated that the exchange of water between the burrow and the flooding tide was found to be in the order of 30% of the burrow volume. These new techniques provide a means to further study the nutrient exchange within these burrow systems and verify the initial findings that several tidal inundations are necessary to completely flush the burrows.  相似文献   

5.
The spatial distribution of the ghost crab Ocypode cursor was determined for beaches on eastern Boa Vista Island, Cabo Verde Archipelago. The main objectives were to analyse the across-shore distribution by means of burrow counts and to identify preferential zones and spatial segregation. Six beaches were investigated using 20 across-shore beach transects. It was demonstrated that ghost crabs occur throughout the entire intertidal zone, with higher densities in a 9–13 m band above the waterline. There was an exponential relationship between the carapace length of captured crabs and the diameter of their burrows. Mean burrow diameter was correlated with burrow density and increased linearly with distance from the waterline, although small burrows, representing individuals smaller than the median size, occurred across the beach. Burrow diameter and depth were positively correlated, with larger holes indicating larger crabs and deeper burrows. Deeper burrows were more common in the upper intertidal zone. These results are similar to those described for ghost crab populations elsewhere and contribute to an understanding of the ecology of the species in the local context.  相似文献   

6.
Macrophthalmus hirtipes (Jacquinot, 1853) excavates burrows under water in soft, muddy sand that remains waterlogged at low tide. The crabs are immersed for at least 4 h in every tide. The burrows are usually single, blind‐ending, slightly curved passages; their openings do not appear to be deliberately closed by the crabs. Excavation is effected by using one set of walking legs as a scoop while the other set provides sideways traction.

Burrow openings are readily obscured by water movement, so that apparent burrow density does not give a true indication of the number of crabs in an area, but only indicates how many have been active recently; the true density may be found by sieving.

The burrowing activity of M. hirtipes is compared with that of other ocypodid crabs, and the functions of burrows are discussed. A distinction is made between excavating a burrow and rapid burying, because the two behaviours are very different, and must involve different adaptations and selection pressures.  相似文献   

7.
Along the coastal areas of the Southwest Atlantic estuaries and embayments, phreatic water often circulates through very extended areas (up to several hundred meters perpendicular to the coast), dominated by dense assemblages of deep burrows of the crab Neohelice granulata (formerly Chasmagnathus granulatus). This crab inhabits the intertidal area, from mudflats to marshes vegetated by species of Spartina, Sarcocornia and Juncus, generating extensive burrowing beds where burrow density may reach up to 60 burrows m−2. Since the lower limit of the crab burrows is usually the water table, we investigated through field experiments the effect of N. granulata and their burrows on the chemical characteristics of this phreatic water. Water analysis from experimental (1) occupied burrows (with crabs), (2) unoccupied burrows (where crabs were excluded), and (3) sediment pore water show remarkable differences. Water oxygenation, and nitrate, ammonium and sulphate concentrations inside occupied burrows were higher than in the water inside unoccupied burrows or pore waters. Moreover, directed sampling of phreatic water entering and leaving the crab bed, shows that dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentration is enhanced as the water crosses the crab bed. These results may be ascribed to the fact that in the salt marsh the crabs spend most of their time within burrows, where presumably they store food (plants) and defecate. These activities generate an area of accumulation of excrements and nutrients in different decomposition states. The present work shows a novel way by which bioturbating organisms can affect nutrients exportation from salt marshes to the open waters.  相似文献   

8.
The abundance and distribution of mud crabs were studied in a replanted mangrove forest in Buswang, Aklan, Philippines. Two fishing gears, lift nets and bamboo traps, were used to monitor relative abundance of Scylla spp. populations from March 2002 to December 2003 inside the mangrove forest. A third gear, a stakenet set across a creek, was used to monitor crabs migrating out of the mangroves during the ebb tide. Scylla olivacea formed 99.3% and 70.3% of the catch in the mangrove and the stakenet, respectively. The percentage of Scylla tranquebarica increased from <1% in the mangrove catches to 29% in the stakenet. Scylla serrata was present at very low levels in both catches. The lack of modal progression in the size–frequency plots and the year-round catch rate of gravid females suggested that recruitment was constant throughout the year. Even though relative abundance decreased over the study period indicating that the stock is being over-exploited, mud crab production is more than equivalent to that of most natural mangroves.  相似文献   

9.
A novel mechanism of stream development in coastal wetlands was observed in the form of interaction between the burrowing crab (Chasmagnathus granulata) and groundwater seepage. This process may eventually be further promoted by the predatory action of the white croaker fish (Micropogon opercularis). These so-called crab streams occur on the banks of major tidal channels in a salt marsh of the Bahía Blanca Estuary (Argentina). As the tide recedes, water is retained in the crab burrows on the marsh surface. The presence of lateral burrows produced by crab recruits promotes subterranean piping flow driven by the hydraulic head in the vertical burrow. Groundwater generally seeps along the tidal channel banks but is particularly prominent and concentrated where crab burrows perforate the banks. Where predatory attacks by the croaker fish enlarge the burrow mouths, the drainage rills become wider and deeper because more seeping water is collected in the shallow crater from where it is funnelled into the developing streams. The crab stream is then produced by water draining from the crab burrow mouth, acting initially by cut-back erosion and followed by forward erosion of the relatively unconsolidated muddy sediments.  相似文献   

10.
Mangrove forests are known to accomplish crucial ecosystem functions and services. They are nursery areas for fish, prawns and crabs, which provide coastal communities with a variety of food, timber and chemicals, and protect coasts from catastrophic events, such as tsunamis. Recently, a novel ecological service has been proposed for mangrove systems, namely natural wastewater treatment wetlands. This hypothesis was based on experimental data collected mainly in Chinese mangrove systems, which proved that mangrove soils were efficient in absorbing nutrients. Moreover, sewage loading seemed harmless to both plants and benthic communities in these systems. However, before promoting the use of natural mangroves as pollution buffers, or constructed mangrove wetlands as sewage treatment facilities, more data are needed on their overall tolerance to organic loading. Differences in macrobenthos patterns were thus investigated between peri-urban mangroves and sites not affected by sewage disposal in East Africa. We assessed differences in epifaunal assemblages, comprising crabs and molluscs, employing multivariate ACI unbalanced analyses to compare peri-urban mangrove swamps with those characteristic of non-urban mangroves with similar ecological traits. The sampling design was spatially nested, replicates being assessed at equatorial (southern Kenya) and subtropical (southern Mozambique) sites. The results manifested a consistent increase in crab biomass at the peri-urban sites in both Kenya and Mozambique. Moreover, the peri-urban systems were richer than the non-urban mangroves, both in terms of fiddler crabs (Uca spp.) which feed on benthic microalgae and bacteria, and sesarmids, such as Perisesarma guttatum and Neosarmatium meinerti, which feed on both substratum and leaf litter. The abundance of gastropods, in contrast, decreased significantly, especially in Kenya, mainly due to the disappearance of the mud whelk Terebralia palustris. The results thus indicate that, in East African mangrove systems, domestic wastewater has detectable effects on crabs and molluscs, suggesting their usefulness as bioindicators of its effects in mangroves. Transformed benthic patterns at the peri-urban sites indicated the need for further study of the actual potential of natural mangrove forests to absorb pollution in sewage treatment.  相似文献   

11.
Field measurements on leaf removal by populations of sesarmid crabs at different locations in the Bangrong mangrove forest, Phuket, Thailand, indicated that crabs on average can remove 87% of the daily leaf litter fall by ingestion or burial. The removal rate is correlated positively with the number of crab burrows and negatively with tidal inundation time. The results from the field were supplemented with observations on the behavior of Neoepisesarma versicolor in laboratory microcosms and a mangrove mesocosm. N. versicolor feeds primarily at night and total time spent feeding was up to an order of magnitude higher in the artificial microcosms than under simulated in situ conditions in the mesocosm. Most of the time during both day and night was spent resting near the entrance or inside burrows. N. versicolor mainly feeds on mangrove leaves and scraps of food material from the sediment surface. This is supported by examinations of stomach content, which showed that 62% is composed of higher plant material and 38% of detritus and mineral particles from the sediment. The nutritive value of leaves and detritus is insufficient to maintain crab growth. Sesarmid crabs may instead obtain the needed nutrients by occasional consumption of nitrogen-rich animal tissues, such as carcasses of fish and crustaceans, as indicated by the presence of animal remains in the stomach and the willingness of crabs to consume fish meat. Laboratory experiments on leaf consumption and leaf preferences of N. versicolor indicate that they preferentially feed on brown leaves, if available, followed by green and yellow leaves. If all species of sesarmid crabs in the Bangrong mangrove forest consume leaves at the same rate as N. versicolor, they could potentially ingest 52% of the total litter fall.  相似文献   

12.
Little is known about the effects of mud crabs population patterns on their exploitation. We used complementary approaches (experimental, fisher-based) to investigate how small-scale variations in density, size and sex-ratio related to the ecology of S. serrata may impact fishing practices in New Caledonia. Crabs were measured/sexed across 9 stations in contrasted mangrove systems between 2007 and 2009. Stations were described and classified in different kinds of mangrove forests (coastal, riverine, and estuarine); vegetation cover was qualitatively described at station scale. Annual catch was used as an indicator of fishing pressure. Middle-scale environmental factors (oceanic influence, vegetation cover) had significant contributions to crab density (GLM, 84.8% of variance), crab size and sex-ratio (< 30%). While small-scale natural factors contributed significantly to population structure, current fishing levels had no impacts on mud crabs. The observed, ecologically-driven heterogeneity of crab resource has strong social implications in the Pacific area, where land tenure system and traditional access rights prevent most fishers from freely selecting their harvest zones. This offers a great opportunity to encourage site-specific management of mud crab fisheries.  相似文献   

13.
栖息于潮间带的海生动物中,营底内生活的种类占很大的比例。这类动物以独特的生活方式适应或克服潮间带的各种不利条件而得到生存和繁衍。从报道来看现代海洋底内动物泂穴的研究具有多方面的意义。如某些潮间带底内动物的鉴定,仅以外部形态作依据显然不够,还需以其他生态资料,如粪便、洞穴、卵块等作参考。有些潮间带动物的地理分布范围与其营底内生活有关，它们可以借助洞穴的保护而渡过寒暖不适的气候。更重要的是这方面研究能对古生态学和地史学问題的探讨提供科学依据。有很多种潮间带底内动物洞穴、排出物和爬行痕迹等被作为“生活遗迹”而保存在化石中,因此这类化石的沉积岩层实际上已成为该类动物生存发展年代的记载。但是,在岩层古生态学分析研究中,比较困难的是如何区别古代生物居住、死亡或埋藏的地点,这个同题涉及到对沉积物形成的地点和过程的确定,进一步就可用这些资料来研究古代海岸变迁和海面的升降。就潮间带底内动物的居住和死亡地点(埋藏与死亡地点也可以不同)来说,有的可能一致(如某些不太活动的种类),有的则不一致(如贝类)，作为古生态学依据,各具其长短,贝类无洞穴化石,其贝壳可成为化石,但埋藏与生活地点往往不一致;蟹类的优点是洞穴能成化石，其上并留有爬行痕迹;洞穴化石的埋藏与动物原来生活地点一致(亦有个別情况不一致)。早在地史年代就已有不少虾蟹类遗体及生活迹迹化石被发现:因此，现代潮间带蟹类洞穴的研究不仅对认识或鉴定古代甲売类动物有价值,而且对进一步鉴定种类、寻找演化线索和促进古生态学的发展都具有重要意义。 青岛潮间带在我国北方沿岸潮间带中颇具代表性。潮汐是规则的半日潮。 著者曾于1954-1964年,选以下四个点进行了调查:1,沧口潮间带,位于胶州湾内东北区中部,座东向西，坡度小的泥质和泥沙质滩涂;2.沙子口潮间带,位于青岛以东,为沙质滩涂;3.湛山湾潮间带:位青岛以东近郊,为沙质滩涂;4.大黑澜潮间带,位于胶州湾口,为岩石岸滩。每月进行二次大潮采集,每一采样点取两个定量(50×50厘米)样品和若于定性补充样品。从1963年5月至1964年9月,结合甲壳类生态进行了专题调查,本文就是根据上述调查,在软底质滩涂所获11种蟹类材料总结的,对所见各种蟹类的洞穴均经现场观察、测量并作了详细记录和拍照。对同一种蟹类洞穴的形态在不同地点和时间内所出现的变化也给予了特别的注意。 本文定稿过程中征得了山东海洋学院李嘉泳及本所曾呈奎,刘瑞玉、郑执中、吴宝铃、齐钟彦、马绣同等同志的修改意见,文中插图、照片由王兴虞、宋华中同志给予帮助,在此一并表示感谢。  相似文献   

14.
锯缘青蟹秋苗土池越冬的试验研究   总被引：4，自引：0，他引：4  
王桂忠  林琼武 《台湾海峡》1998,17(4):468-472
本文报道１９９３和１９９４年秋季作者培育的部分锯缘青蟹仔蟹苗土池越冬试验。结果表明人工培育的青蟹苗在闽南地区的自然条件下,可以在室外土池完全越科,成活率可达６０－８０％,水温是影响青蟹生命活动的主要因素;由于越冬期间青蟹营养积累不足,导致难以顺利地完成越冬后的第一次生长蜕壳,造成大量死亡,这是影响青蟹越冬存活率的主要因素之一;越科后期病死青蟹肝胰组织进行涂片处理,发现６只受检蟹中２只肝胰组织中有日  相似文献   

15.
Post-settlement processes are a major focus in the study of the dynamics of marine populations and communities. Post-settlement movement of juveniles is an important, but often ignored, process which affects local predator–prey and competitive interactions. We used benthic suction sampling and pitfall traps to examine density and locomotory activity of Carcinus maenas juveniles in different intertidal habitat types in the Rio Mira Estuary, Portugal, to better understand intra-specific interactions in a system where density-dependent processes are known to regulate population dynamics. As expected, significantly higher densities of juvenile shore crabs were found from bare mud compared to densely vegetated habitats. At the time of sampling, small and intermediate stages together outnumbered by far the larger juveniles. Conversely, larger crabs were much more frequent than smaller ones in traps. A locomotory index (LI), i.e. the ratio between crab catch in pitfall traps and their density within their moving range, is proposed as a measure of movement. LI analyses indicated that: (1) movement is an order of magnitude higher in large than small juveniles and much higher in sparse than dense vegetation cover; (2) activity of small juveniles is mostly crepuscular, regardless of vegetation cover; and (3) movement of large juveniles is very limited in dense Zostera patches, but very high in sparsely vegetated areas, during the day and night. These results suggest that small juveniles are relatively protected under dense vegetation cover due to lower mobility of larger crabs, and provide evidence of temporal segregation of activity windows between juvenile crabs of different sizes, which may be a key mechanism to reduce cannibalism and therefore increase the carrying capacity of nursery habitats.  相似文献   

16.
Tidal flushing of animal burrows in mangrove swamps provides an effective and important mechanism for transport of salt and other soluble substances. The burrows have complex morphologies consisting of multiple loops. Using established computational modelling techniques, burrow geometries were simulated from characteristic burrow dimensions and the effect of multiple loops on flushing is studied. The computational models show that flushing is enhanced in multiple-loop burrows as upper loops can be completely evacuated, increasing the volume of burrow water removed. The models indicate that there may be a depth limit to which flushing occurs in complex burrow structures. Periscope loops extend further than one characteristic loop depth and are shown to affect the flushing of burrows if the surface-water plume penetrates to their lower depth. Periscope loops with surface openings on the downstream side of the burrow, relative to the tidal inundation, most frequently experience this condition and thus have a great impact on burrow flushing. Field measurements of salinity agree with the hypothesis that there is a depth limit of flushing for complex burrows that is independent of burrow salinity, and suggest a value of 30–35 cm. The measurements also support the suggestion that significant flushing of burrows occurs within a single tidal event. An experiment considered the movement of animals across the interface created by low-salinity surface water and high-salinity burrow water after a partial flushing event. The motion enhances the effective diffusion coefficient of salt by a factor of at least 102, as compared with free diffusion of salt in water, resulting in a more even distribution of dissolved salt in the burrow water between tidal inundations. This distribution may lead to an increase in the depth to which flushing occurs during subsequent inundations.  相似文献   

17.
The gastropod Terebralia palustris often dominates the surface of muddy to sandy substrates of intertidal mudflats and mangrove forests, where they clearly destabilize the sediment. In the present study, it was investigated whether and to what extent the behaviour of juvenile and adult snails differs among habitats (mudflat vs. mangrove stand) in a Sonneratia alba mangal at Gazi Bay, Kenya. For this purpose we: (1) examined their distribution along three land–sea transects; and (2) applied stable isotope analysis to determine the feeding patterns of different-sized snails from the mangrove and mudflat habitats. Additionally, we investigated if these gastropods exert an impact on microphytobenthic (diatom) biomass, and whether this is size-dependent. The latter objective was met by either enclosing or excluding different-sized snails from experimental cages on the intertidal mudflat and the subsequent assessment of a change in pigment concentration of the sediment surface. In agreement with several previous studies conducted in other mangroves and geographical locations, a spatial segregation was demonstrated between juveniles (more common on the mudflat) and adults (more common in the mangrove forest). On the intertidal mudflat juveniles avoided sediment patches characterized by highly saline water in intertidal pools and a high mud content, while adults tended to dwell on substrates covered by a high amount of leaf litter. Stable carbon isotope analysis of the foot tissue of snails sampled from the S. alba stand and the mudflat indicated a transition in food source when a shell length of 51 mm is reached. Considering the δ13C value of juveniles, it seems they might be selecting for microphytobenthos, which might explain their preference for the mudflat. The diet of size classes found in both habitats did not differ significantly, although juveniles inhabiting the mangrove forest were slightly more depleted in 13C compared to those residing on the mudflat. Assuming juveniles feed on benthic microalgae and considering the lower microalgal biomass inside the mangrove forest, this may be a consequence of a higher contribution of other, more 13C depleted organic carbon sources, like phytoplankton, to their diet. Experimental results indicate a negative, but insignificant, impact on benthic diatom biomass by juveniles (due to grazing) and adults (due to physical disturbance). This finding seems to be in agreement with the results of the stable carbon isotope analysis, strongly suggesting the selective feeding of juvenile T. palustris on benthic diatoms.  相似文献   

18.
Terebralia palustris is a common mud-whelk present at a particularly high density in all Indo-West Pacific mangroves. Young snails feed on nothing but mud while larger specimens are able to feed on fallen leaves too. In Kenya (Mida Creek) under the canopy, competition for mangrove leaves can be very high due to the high density of Sesarmidae crabs. On open exposed muddy platforms, no Sesarmidae occur but the leaf density is very low because the leaves are only randomly present as they are deposited and removed twice a day by the tide. However, the snail density is always very high, raising the question as to whether the snails use a special searching strategy to optimize their resource finding rather than a purely random movement. By analyzing the snails' movements on a uniform area at different levels and comparing them with simulated random paths, we could show that the snails' movements are not purely random. The distribution of different size classes of T. palustris in Mida Creek was known to be quite odd: the same simulation approach suggests that the zonation asymmetry could reasonably be due to the stochastic recruitment of juveniles in space and time and maintained by a substantial long-lasting spatial inertia.  相似文献   

19.
拟穴青蟹大眼幼体和仔蟹对海泥和泥沙底质的选择性显著高于各种粒径的沙底（粒度0.06～2.00mm）.其原因可能与海泥和泥沙底质在流动海水中物理稳定性高于沙砾有关.通过以埋栖选择性和相对埋栖率为指标考察了大眼幼体和仔蟹的栖息方式,发现白昼大眼幼体埋栖在底质中的比例显著高于夜间,也高于仔蟹;夜间大眼幼体栖息方式与仔蟹差别不明显;并发现大眼幼体栖息方式存在着昼夜差异和昼夜节律性.这揭示了拟穴青蟹大眼幼体对底质的选择性和在底质上栖息的方式表现出对FTT机制的适应.  相似文献   

20.
Biogenic bottom features, animal burrows and biological activities interact with the hydrodynamics of the sediment–water interface to produce altered patterns of sediment erosion, transport and deposition which have consequences for large-scale geomorphologic features. It has been suggested that depending on the hydrodynamic status of the habitat, the biological activity on the bottom may have a variety of effects. In some cases, different bioturbation activities by the same organism can result in different consequences. The burrowing crab Neohelice granulata is the most important bioturbator at SW Atlantic saltmarshes and tidal plains. Because of the great variety of habitats that this species may inhabit, it is possible to compare its bioturbation effects between zones dominated by different hydrodynamic conditions. Internal marsh microhabitats, tidal creeks bottoms and basins, and open mudflats were selected as contrasting zones for the comparison on a large saltmarsh at Bahía Blanca Estuary (Argentina). Crab burrows act as passive traps of sediment in all zones, because their entrances remain open during inundation periods at high tide. Mounds are generated when crabs remove sediments from the burrows to the surface and become distinctive features in all the zones. Two different mechanisms of sediment transport utilizing mounds as sediment sources were registered. In the first one, parts of fresh mound sediments were transported when exposed to water flow during flooding and ebbing tide, with higher mound erosion where currents were higher as compared to internal marsh habitats and open mudflats. In the second mechanism, mounds exposed to atmospheric influence during low tide became desiccated and cracked forming ellipsoidal blocks, which were then transported by currents in zones of intense water flow in the saltmarsh edge. Sedimentary dynamics varied between zones; crabs were promoting trapping of sediments in the internal saltmarsh (380 g m−2 day−1) and open mudflats (1.2 kg m−2 day−1), but were enhancing sediment removal in the saltmarsh edge (between 10 and 500 g m−2 day−1 in summer). The implication is that biologically mediated sedimentological changes could be different among microhabitats, potentially leading to contrasting geomorphologic effects within a particular ecosystem.  相似文献   

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