2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference

March 13 - 15, 2022

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5/21/2019 | 2:00 PM - 2:15 PM | THE ECOLOGICAL ROLE AND DISTRIBUTION OF FRESHWATER CRABS (DECAPODA: PSEUDOTHELPHUSIDAE) IN NEOTROPICAL HEADWATER STREAMS: A CASE STUDY FROM COSTA RICA | 250 DE

THE ECOLOGICAL ROLE AND DISTRIBUTION OF FRESHWATER CRABS (DECAPODA: PSEUDOTHELPHUSIDAE) IN NEOTROPICAL HEADWATER STREAMS: A CASE STUDY FROM COSTA RICA

Freshwater crabs are the largest macroconsumers in many tropical headwater streams, but few studies have examined their roles in ecosystem processes such as leaf litter breakdown. As omnivorous macroconsumers, freshwater crabs affect various trophic levels and may directly increase leaf breakdown by direct consumption and fragmentation or indirectly decrease breakdown by consuming shredding insects. We conducted in-stream enclosure experiments to quantify the effects of pseudothelphusid crabs on leaf breakdown and insect colonization of leaves in headwater streams in Monteverde, Costa Rica. After 42 days of incubation, enclosures with crabs had significantly faster rates of leaf breakdown than those without crabs (with crabs: k = -0.020; without crabs: k = -0.016; p < 0.05). To scale up the effects of crabs on leaf breakdown across headwater streams, we quantified crab densities across 20 headwater stream sites using mark-recapture methods. Crab densities ranged from 0 to 8.1 crabs/m (95% CL: 4.9-13.1 crabs/m). Stream sites in undisturbed forested watersheds had higher crab densities than sites near human development. Anthropogenic pollution may decrease crab population densities and affect rates of leaf litter breakdown in tropical headwater streams.

Invertebrate
Decomposition
Food Webs

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Presenters/Authors

Carol Yang (), University of Georgia, carolyang214@gmail.com ;