Can land crabs be used as a rapid ecosystem evaluation tool? A test using distribution and abundance of several genera from the Seychelles

Brook, Sarah, Grant, Alastair ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1147-2375 and Bell, Diana (2009) Can land crabs be used as a rapid ecosystem evaluation tool? A test using distribution and abundance of several genera from the Seychelles. Acta Oecologica, 35 (5). pp. 711-719. ISSN 1873-6238

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Abstract

Habitat destruction and the introduction of exotic species are the primary causes of biodiversity loss in tropical island ecosystems. Conservation efforts on oceanic islands are often biased towards charismatic vertebrate faunas, neglecting invertebrate assemblages. We sampled the land crab community on five islands in the central Seychelles; in the intertidal zone, in the supralittoral zone and in nine different inland habitat types to explore the impacts of exotic vegetation and environmental variables on land crab abundance and community composition, and investigate whether land crabs can be used as a tool for the rapid assessment of habitat quality on tropical oceanic islands. We found that species richness and the abundance of the dominant ghost crab Ocypode cordimana was higher in native habitat types than habitats dominated by exotic vegetation. Available ground substrate suitable for burrowing may be a limiting factor for O. cordimana in exotic habitat types. Coenobita rugosus, the dominant crab in the supralittoral zone is largely absent where there is no supralittoral vegetation. These results suggest that land crabs could be reliable indicators of habitat quality on oceanic islands. The abundance of land crabs could be used in the rapid assessment of ecosystem perturbation and identification of sites requiring restoration or management.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 15 - life on land ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_on_land
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences Faculty of Science > School of Biological Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Biology Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Organisms and the Environment
Depositing User:	Rosie Cullington
Date Deposited:	22 Feb 2011 15:32
Last Modified:	16 May 2023 00:15
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/24348
DOI:	10.1016/j.actao.2009.07.001

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