Benthic Habitat Selection induced by Optimal Burrowing and Geoenvironmental Gradients

Abstract

The present study aims at examining the processes of benthic habitat selection as induced by optimal burrowing and geoenvironnmental gradients. We utilized a newly developed eco-geoenvironment-water tank in order to clarify the response of benthos to a wide variety of geoenvironments involving both optimal and critical conditions, OP and CR, for burrowing of sand-bubbler crab, Scopimera globosa. The results indicate that the benthos placed in the OP swiftly started burrowing, by contrast, the benthos placed in the CR migrated toward the OP to burrow there. Furthermore, the predicted patch formation based on our proposed optimal-burrowing-model is found to be well consistent with what has been manifested in the field. These results demonstrate that the burrowing benthos actively selects the suitable geoenvironments for their burrowing, thereby generating patch formation. Hence, the present finding will alter the current perspective of habitat selection based on optimal-foraging-model and will facilitate a new horizon of ecohabitat management in the future.