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The Contribution of Crab Burrow Excavation to Carbon Availability in Surficial Salt-marsh Sediments

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Abstract

Geomorphology, vegetation and tidal fluxes are usually identified as the factors introducing variation in the flushing of particulate organic matter (POM) from tidal marshes to adjacent waters. Such variables may, however, be insufficient to explain export characteristics in marshes inhabited by ecosystem engineers that can alter the quantity and quality of POM on the marsh surface that is subject to tidal flushing. In this study we evaluated the balance between transfer of buried sedimentary organic carbon (C) to the marsh surface due to crab excavation (measured from the mounds of sediment excavated from burrows) and outputs of C from the surface due to sediment deposition within crab burrows (estimated from sediment deposited within PVC burrow mimics), in a Southwestern Atlantic salt marsh supporting dense (approximately 70 ind m−2) populations of the crab Chasmagnathus granulatus. C excavation by crabs was much greater than deposition of C within crab burrow mimics. Per area unit estimates of the balance between these two processes indicated that crabs excavated 5.98 g m−2 d−1 and 4.80 mg m−2 d−1 of total and readily (10 d) labile C, respectively. However, sediments excavated by crabs showed a significantly lower content of both total and readily-labile C than sediment collected in burrow mimics. This indicates that ecosystem engineering by burrowing crabs causes a net decrease in the concentration of C in the superficial sediment layers and, thus, an overall decrease in the amount of C that can be washed out of the marsh by tidal action. Incorporating the in situ activities of ecosystem engineers in models of marsh export should enhance understanding of the function of marshes in estuarine ecosystems.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Jessica Kriebel, Sabrina LaFave and Paulina Martinetto for assistance in the laboratory and Florencia Botto for kindly providing unpublished data on crab defecation rates. This research was supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Institute of Ecosystem Studies (CGJ, JLG, PMG and SEGF), Fundación Antorchas (OOI), CONICET (OOI), and the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (OOI). JLG, PDR and CMB are supported by scholarships from CONICET. This is a contribution to the program of the Institute of Ecosystem Studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, New York, 12545, USA

    Jorge L. Gutiérrez, Clive G. Jones, Peter M. Groffman & Stuart E. G. Findlay

  2. Departamento de Biología (FCEyN), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, CC 573 Correo Central, B7600WAG, Mar del Plata, Argentina

    Jorge L. Gutiérrez, Oscar O. Iribarne, Pablo D. Ribeiro & C. Martín Bruschetti

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  1. Jorge L. Gutiérrez
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Correspondence to Jorge L. Gutiérrez.

APPENDIX: VALIDATION OF BURROW MIMICS

APPENDIX: VALIDATION OF BURROW MIMICS

The validity of using bottom-capped PVC pipes as mimics of crab burrows depends on: (1) whether pipes are colonized by crabs in the same proportion as crabs occupying burrows; (2) whether crabs are able to go in and out from mimics as they do in burrows; and (3) whether crabs remain in mimics as often and as long as they do in burrows. These factors were evaluated as follows:

  1. (1)

    We introduced 36 PVC burrow mimics (1–6 cm diameter; 6 replicates each) and we made 36 holes in the sediment of the same size and shape as the mimics. Concurrently, we sampled presence/absence of crabs in 50 burrows. After 24 h, we found crabs in 30 out of 36 mimics (83.33%) and 31 out of 36 holes (86.11%; Chi-square test: χ2 = 0.23, P > 0.05). This was consistent with the percentage of natural burrows occupied by crabs in the field (that is, 43 out of 50; 86%).

  2. (2)

    Crabs were introduced into 12 PVC burrow mimics (2 and 4 cm diameter, 6 replicates each) and 12 holes of the same size and shape as mimics made in the sediments. The water at the bottom of the mimics and holes was agitated with an L-shaped wire stake and the escape response of crabs was recorded. Crabs were equally able to climb out from burrow mimics and holes in response to agitation. In both treatments, all crabs reached the substrate surface in less than 10 s from the start of agitation.

  3. (3)

    We deployed twelve burrow mimics (2 and 4 cm diameter, 6 replicates each) and we made 12 holes of the same size and shape as the mimics. Twenty-four crabs were labeled on the carapace with an indelible marker and one crab was introduced into each of the mimics and holes. After 24 h we found the same number of crabs remaining in mimics as in holes (Chi-square test: χ2 = 0.50, P > 0.05). Two out of 12 of the marked crabs were recovered in both PVC mimics and holes. Of the remaining mimics and holes we found either other crabs (Mimics: 5 out of 12, Holes: 6 out of 12) or no crabs (Mimics: 5 out of 12, Holes: 4 out of 12).

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Gutiérrez, J.L., Jones, C.G., Groffman, P.M. et al. The Contribution of Crab Burrow Excavation to Carbon Availability in Surficial Salt-marsh Sediments. Ecosystems 9, 647–658 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-006-0135-9

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