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Positive abundance and negative distribution effects of a gastropod on an intertidal hermit crab

Oecologia volume 69, pages 213–216 (1986)Cite this article

Summary

Field experiments were used to determine the effect of a common intertidal snail (Nerita funiculata) on the use of space for foraging by the hermit crab Clibanarius digueti. Removals of Nerita resulted in an increased density of foraging Clibanarius, while additions of the gastropod had the opposite effect. The observed negative effect of the gastropod on individual hermit crabs appears to be food-related. Field surveys, however, suggested that the hermit crab population is limited by shell number, rather than food. Because Nerita contributes to the shell resource, its effect on the hermit crab population is positive. Nerita, therefore, has a negative effect on the distribution of foraging hermit crabs, but a positive effect on their abundance. Such decouplings of distribution and abundance effects are rare.

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Author notes

  1. Curtis M. Lively

    Present address: Department of Zoology, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 1, New Zealand

Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of California, 93106, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Peter T. Raimondi

  2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, 85721, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Curtis M. Lively

Authors
  1. Peter T. Raimondi
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  2. Curtis M. Lively
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Raimondi, P.T., Lively, C.M. Positive abundance and negative distribution effects of a gastropod on an intertidal hermit crab. Oecologia 69, 213–216 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00377624

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00377624

Keywords

  • Field Experiment
  • Opposite Effect
  • Field Survey
  • Distribution Effect
  • Hermit Crab