The study aimed at investigating the effects of sewage loadings on the behaviour of two fiddler crabs species maintained in a system of experimental mesocosms, built in a mangrove area in Tanzania and inundated with different seawater/sewage mixtures. Our results show that sewage loads led to a modification of the overall activity budget of the crab community as a result of increased hypertrophic conditions (high COD, increased chlorophyll-a concentrations). During their activity period, crabs inside contaminated mesocosms seemed to satisfy their feeding demand faster than those of the control cells, spending a significant longer time in other activities like courtship and territorial defence. Apart from being a good biological indication of ecosystem eutrophication, such a reduced foraging activity by fiddler crabs also depresses their sediment bioturbation activity, important factor for the health of mangrove systems, suggesting practical implications regarding the efficiency of mangrove-based wetlands for treatment of domestic sewage.
Behavioural responses of the mangrove fiddler crabs (Uca annulipes and U. inversa) to urban sewage loadings: results of a mesocosm approach / Bartolini F.; Penha-Lopes G.; Limbu S.; Paula J.; Cannicci S.. - In: MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN. - ISSN 0025-326X. - STAMPA. - 58:(2009), pp. 1860-1867. [10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.07.019]
Behavioural responses of the mangrove fiddler crabs (Uca annulipes and U. inversa) to urban sewage loadings: results of a mesocosm approach
CANNICCI, STEFANO
2009
Abstract
The study aimed at investigating the effects of sewage loadings on the behaviour of two fiddler crabs species maintained in a system of experimental mesocosms, built in a mangrove area in Tanzania and inundated with different seawater/sewage mixtures. Our results show that sewage loads led to a modification of the overall activity budget of the crab community as a result of increased hypertrophic conditions (high COD, increased chlorophyll-a concentrations). During their activity period, crabs inside contaminated mesocosms seemed to satisfy their feeding demand faster than those of the control cells, spending a significant longer time in other activities like courtship and territorial defence. Apart from being a good biological indication of ecosystem eutrophication, such a reduced foraging activity by fiddler crabs also depresses their sediment bioturbation activity, important factor for the health of mangrove systems, suggesting practical implications regarding the efficiency of mangrove-based wetlands for treatment of domestic sewage.I documenti in FLORE sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.