Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats
Many subtidal predators undertake regular tidal migrations into intertidal areas in order to access abundant prey. One of the most productive habitats in soft bottom intertidal systems is formed by beds of epibenthic bivalves such as blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gig...
Published in: | Estuaries and Coasts |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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2018
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Online Access: | https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/3aa0db71-7a19-4915-a21d-40e85f984c42 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-017-0297-z https://hdl.handle.net/1871.1/3aa0db71-7a19-4915-a21d-40e85f984c42 http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85027339910&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85027339910&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
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ftvuamstcris:oai:research.vu.nl:publications/3aa0db71-7a19-4915-a21d-40e85f984c42 2024-09-30T14:33:57+00:00 Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats Waser, Andreas M. Dekker, Rob Witte, Johannes Ij McSweeney, Niamh Ens, Bruno J. van der Meer, Jaap 2018-03 https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/3aa0db71-7a19-4915-a21d-40e85f984c42 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-017-0297-z https://hdl.handle.net/1871.1/3aa0db71-7a19-4915-a21d-40e85f984c42 http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85027339910&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85027339910&partnerID=8YFLogxK eng eng https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/3aa0db71-7a19-4915-a21d-40e85f984c42 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Waser , A M , Dekker , R , Witte , J I , McSweeney , N , Ens , B J & van der Meer , J 2018 , ' Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats ' , Estuaries and Coasts , vol. 41 , no. 2 , pp. 507-520 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-017-0297-z Animal abundance Crassostrea gigas Mytilus edulis Tidal migration Wadden Sea /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water article 2018 ftvuamstcris https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-017-0297-z 2024-09-05T00:23:22Z Many subtidal predators undertake regular tidal migrations into intertidal areas in order to access abundant prey. One of the most productive habitats in soft bottom intertidal systems is formed by beds of epibenthic bivalves such as blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas). In the Dutch Wadden Sea, these bivalves might face substantial predation pressure by the shore crab (Carcinus maenas), which increased considerably in numbers during the last 20 years. However, the quantification of this species on bivalve beds is challenging, since most methods common for quantifying animal abundance in marine habitats cannot be used. This study investigated the potential of two methods to quantify the abundance of C. maenas on 14 epibenthic bivalve beds across the Dutch Wadden Sea. The use of the number of crabs migrating from subtidal towards intertidal areas as a proxy of abundance on bivalve beds yielded unreliable results. In contrast, crabs caught with traps on the beds were correlated with the abundance assessed on the surrounding bare flats by beam trawl and therefore provided usable results. The estimates, however, were only reliable for crabs exceeding 35 mm in carapace width (CW). The application of these estimates indicated that crab abundances on bivalve beds were influenced by the biogenic structure. Beds dominated by oysters attracted many large crabs (> 50-mm CW), whereas abundances of medium-sized crabs (35–50-mm CW) showed no relationship to the oyster occurrence. The combination of traps and trawls is capable of quantifying crab abundance on bivalve beds, which offers the possibility to study biotic processes such as predator-prey interactions in these complex structures in more detail. Article in Journal/Newspaper Crassostrea gigas Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU): Research Portal Pacific Estuaries and Coasts 41 2 507 520 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU): Research Portal |
op_collection_id |
ftvuamstcris |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal abundance Crassostrea gigas Mytilus edulis Tidal migration Wadden Sea /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water |
spellingShingle |
Animal abundance Crassostrea gigas Mytilus edulis Tidal migration Wadden Sea /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water Waser, Andreas M. Dekker, Rob Witte, Johannes Ij McSweeney, Niamh Ens, Bruno J. van der Meer, Jaap Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats |
topic_facet |
Animal abundance Crassostrea gigas Mytilus edulis Tidal migration Wadden Sea /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water |
description |
Many subtidal predators undertake regular tidal migrations into intertidal areas in order to access abundant prey. One of the most productive habitats in soft bottom intertidal systems is formed by beds of epibenthic bivalves such as blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas). In the Dutch Wadden Sea, these bivalves might face substantial predation pressure by the shore crab (Carcinus maenas), which increased considerably in numbers during the last 20 years. However, the quantification of this species on bivalve beds is challenging, since most methods common for quantifying animal abundance in marine habitats cannot be used. This study investigated the potential of two methods to quantify the abundance of C. maenas on 14 epibenthic bivalve beds across the Dutch Wadden Sea. The use of the number of crabs migrating from subtidal towards intertidal areas as a proxy of abundance on bivalve beds yielded unreliable results. In contrast, crabs caught with traps on the beds were correlated with the abundance assessed on the surrounding bare flats by beam trawl and therefore provided usable results. The estimates, however, were only reliable for crabs exceeding 35 mm in carapace width (CW). The application of these estimates indicated that crab abundances on bivalve beds were influenced by the biogenic structure. Beds dominated by oysters attracted many large crabs (> 50-mm CW), whereas abundances of medium-sized crabs (35–50-mm CW) showed no relationship to the oyster occurrence. The combination of traps and trawls is capable of quantifying crab abundance on bivalve beds, which offers the possibility to study biotic processes such as predator-prey interactions in these complex structures in more detail. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Waser, Andreas M. Dekker, Rob Witte, Johannes Ij McSweeney, Niamh Ens, Bruno J. van der Meer, Jaap |
author_facet |
Waser, Andreas M. Dekker, Rob Witte, Johannes Ij McSweeney, Niamh Ens, Bruno J. van der Meer, Jaap |
author_sort |
Waser, Andreas M. |
title |
Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats |
title_short |
Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats |
title_full |
Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats |
title_fullStr |
Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats |
title_full_unstemmed |
Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats |
title_sort |
quantifying tidal movements of the shore crab carcinus maenas on to complex epibenthic bivalve habitats |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/3aa0db71-7a19-4915-a21d-40e85f984c42 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-017-0297-z https://hdl.handle.net/1871.1/3aa0db71-7a19-4915-a21d-40e85f984c42 http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85027339910&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85027339910&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
geographic |
Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Pacific |
genre |
Crassostrea gigas |
genre_facet |
Crassostrea gigas |
op_source |
Waser , A M , Dekker , R , Witte , J I , McSweeney , N , Ens , B J & van der Meer , J 2018 , ' Quantifying Tidal Movements of the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas on to Complex Epibenthic Bivalve Habitats ' , Estuaries and Coasts , vol. 41 , no. 2 , pp. 507-520 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-017-0297-z |
op_relation |
https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/3aa0db71-7a19-4915-a21d-40e85f984c42 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-017-0297-z |
container_title |
Estuaries and Coasts |
container_volume |
41 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
507 |
op_container_end_page |
520 |
_version_ |
1811637698938535936 |