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Assessment of treatment-specific tethering survival bias for the juvenile blue crab Callinectes sapidus in a simulated salt marsh

The blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) is ecologically and economically important in Chesapeake Bay. Nursery habitats, such as seagrass beds, disproportionately contribute individuals to the adult segment of populations. Salt marshes dominated by smooth cordgrass Spartina alterniflora are intertidal nu...

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Autores principales: Miller, Cole R., Hyman, A. Challen, Shi, Daniel H., Lipcius, Romuald N.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10593224/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37871039
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289398
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author Miller, Cole R.
Hyman, A. Challen
Shi, Daniel H.
Lipcius, Romuald N.
author_facet Miller, Cole R.
Hyman, A. Challen
Shi, Daniel H.
Lipcius, Romuald N.
author_sort Miller, Cole R.
collection PubMed
description The blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) is ecologically and economically important in Chesapeake Bay. Nursery habitats, such as seagrass beds, disproportionately contribute individuals to the adult segment of populations. Salt marshes dominated by smooth cordgrass Spartina alterniflora are intertidal nursery habitats which may serve as a refuge from predation for juvenile blue crabs. However, the effects of various characteristics of salt marshes on nursery metrics, such as survival, have not been quantified. Comparisons of juvenile survival between salt marshes and other habitats often employ tethering to assess survival. Although experimental bias when tethering juvenile prey is well recognized, the potential for habitat-specific bias in salt marshes has not been experimentally tested. Using short-term mesocosm predation experiments, we tested if tethering in simulated salt marsh habitats produces a habitat-specific bias. Juvenile crabs were tethered or un-tethered and randomly allocated to mesocosms at varying simulated shoot densities and unstructured sand. Tethering reduced survival, and its effect was not habitat specific, irrespective of shoot density, as evidenced by a non-significant interaction effect between tethering treatment and habitat. Thus, tethering juvenile blue crabs in salt marsh habitat did not produce treatment-specific bias relative to unvegetated habitat across a range of shoot densities; survival of tethered and un-tethered crabs was positively related to shoot density. These findings indicate that tethering is a useful method for assessing survival in salt marshes, as with other nursery habitats including seagrass beds, algae and unstructured sand.
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spelling pubmed-105932242023-10-24 Assessment of treatment-specific tethering survival bias for the juvenile blue crab Callinectes sapidus in a simulated salt marsh Miller, Cole R. Hyman, A. Challen Shi, Daniel H. Lipcius, Romuald N. PLoS One Research Article The blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) is ecologically and economically important in Chesapeake Bay. Nursery habitats, such as seagrass beds, disproportionately contribute individuals to the adult segment of populations. Salt marshes dominated by smooth cordgrass Spartina alterniflora are intertidal nursery habitats which may serve as a refuge from predation for juvenile blue crabs. However, the effects of various characteristics of salt marshes on nursery metrics, such as survival, have not been quantified. Comparisons of juvenile survival between salt marshes and other habitats often employ tethering to assess survival. Although experimental bias when tethering juvenile prey is well recognized, the potential for habitat-specific bias in salt marshes has not been experimentally tested. Using short-term mesocosm predation experiments, we tested if tethering in simulated salt marsh habitats produces a habitat-specific bias. Juvenile crabs were tethered or un-tethered and randomly allocated to mesocosms at varying simulated shoot densities and unstructured sand. Tethering reduced survival, and its effect was not habitat specific, irrespective of shoot density, as evidenced by a non-significant interaction effect between tethering treatment and habitat. Thus, tethering juvenile blue crabs in salt marsh habitat did not produce treatment-specific bias relative to unvegetated habitat across a range of shoot densities; survival of tethered and un-tethered crabs was positively related to shoot density. These findings indicate that tethering is a useful method for assessing survival in salt marshes, as with other nursery habitats including seagrass beds, algae and unstructured sand. Public Library of Science 2023-10-23 /pmc/articles/PMC10593224/ /pubmed/37871039 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289398 Text en © 2023 Miller et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Miller, Cole R.
Hyman, A. Challen
Shi, Daniel H.
Lipcius, Romuald N.
Assessment of treatment-specific tethering survival bias for the juvenile blue crab Callinectes sapidus in a simulated salt marsh
title Assessment of treatment-specific tethering survival bias for the juvenile blue crab Callinectes sapidus in a simulated salt marsh
title_full Assessment of treatment-specific tethering survival bias for the juvenile blue crab Callinectes sapidus in a simulated salt marsh
title_fullStr Assessment of treatment-specific tethering survival bias for the juvenile blue crab Callinectes sapidus in a simulated salt marsh
title_full_unstemmed Assessment of treatment-specific tethering survival bias for the juvenile blue crab Callinectes sapidus in a simulated salt marsh
title_short Assessment of treatment-specific tethering survival bias for the juvenile blue crab Callinectes sapidus in a simulated salt marsh
title_sort assessment of treatment-specific tethering survival bias for the juvenile blue crab callinectes sapidus in a simulated salt marsh
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10593224/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37871039
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289398
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