Effects of the intertidal burrowing crabChasmagnathus granulatus on infaunal zonation patterns, tidal behavior, and risk of mortality

Abstract

Rhythmic movements in response to tidal cycles are characteristic of infaunal inhabitant of intertidal soft-bottoms, allowing them to remain in the area with best living conditions. The effect of bioturbators as modifier of local environmental conditions and thus of gradients in intertidal habitats, has not been investigated yet. The Atlantic estuarine intertidal areas are dominated by the burrowing crabChasmagnathus granulatus that generates strong environmental heterogeneity by affecting the physical-chemical characteristics of the sediment. The comparison between intertidal areas with and without crab shows that sediments in the crab beds remain more humid, softer, and homogeneous across the intertidal and along the tidal cycle than areas without crabs. The densities of infauna were higher at high intertidal zones in crab beds than in similar areas without crabs. Infaunal organisms performed vertical movements into the sediment following the tidal cycle that were always of higher magnitude in habitats without crabs. Infaunal species tend to spend most of the time buried into the sediment in the crab bed. Migratory shorebirds use the Atlantic estuarine environments as stopover or wintering sites. They feed (mainly on polychaetes) in the low intertidal zones of both habitats (with and without crabs), but they also feed in the upper intertidal of the crab bed; polychaete per capita mortality rate is higher in the upper part of the crab bed. Environmental heterogeneity produced by crab disturbance has an effect on the infaunal behavior, risk of mortality, and the zonation pattern. This is another example of the ecosystem engineering ability of a burrowing intertidal species.