Journal
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Volume 58, Issue 12, Pages 1860-1867Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.07.019
Keywords
Sewage; East Africa; Mangrove; Fiddler crab; Behaviour; Ecosystem engineer
Funding
- European Commission [INCO-CT2004-510863]
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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. (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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