THE ECOLOGICAL ROLES OF NEOHELICE GRANULATA I: MODIFYING HABITATS

MAURICIO ESCAPA; EUGENIA FANJUL; DIANA IRERI MONTEMAYOR; MICAELA GIORGINI; ANA MIGUEZ; OSCAR O. IRIBARNE

Neohelice granulata, a Model Species for Studies on Crustaceans.

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2020; p. 187 - 206

Current knowledge shows that N. granulata has an impact on theecological and ecosystem functioning of SWA temperate tidal softbottoms (i.e., salt marshes and mudflats). Apart from its pivotal role aspart of coastal food webs (Botto et al. 2005) and its direct effects oncommunity structure (e.g. Iribarne et al. 2003, Alberti et al. 2007), thiscrab also affects ecosystem structure and function through habitatmodification (Alberti et al. 2015, see also Chapter 17 Volume I). Theintense burrowing activity of N. granulata, especially in sites and seasonswhere they are very abundant or active, alters sedimentary physicalchemical environment both in mudflats and salt marshes. Locally, theseconditions determine two central aspects of sedimentary systemfunctioning, the diffusion of solutes (e.g. nutrients) within the sedimentand the resistance of sedimentary deposits to overlying water flows. Atlarger scales, these properties control the biogeochemical functioning inthe sediment profile and, therefore, the coupling between benthic andpelagic domains are also affected. Moreover, local effects on sedimentproperties and their interaction with the fluid dynamic environment lead tochanges in geomorphological dynamics that are expressed on a largerscale. For example, the increase in the growth rate of tidal creeks andmarsh erosion rates in systems where external sediment supply is low, orthe biogenic generation of salt pans in S. perennis dominated salt marshes.