Abstract
Neohelice granulata provides an interesting animal model for studying behavioural process because it is widely distributed, ensuring variability related to different environmental conditions. The aim of this study was to analyse variation in site fidelity with relation to landscape heterogeneity. Field observations were carried out in three geographically distant marshes in Argentina (Mar Chiquita, San Antonio Oeste, and Riacho San José), which differ in their environmental characteristics and where crabs display different reproductive strategies. We analysed potential variation in burrow fidelity with relation to body size, sex and presence of vegetation (mudflat and saltmarsh) at all study sites. In addition, we analysed the influence of tidal flooding on fidelity in the Mar Chiquita saltmarsh. To achieve these goals, we used a mark–recapture method in which we tagged approximately 100 crabs during mid-summer for each zone at each site (a total of 668 crabs) for geographical comparison and approximately 370 crabs to evaluate the influence of tidal flooding. We found more faithful individuals in Mar Chiquita than in San Antonio Oeste and Riacho San José. For the San Antonio Oeste and Riacho San José populations and for Mar Chiquita previous to flooding samples we also found differences in site fidelity related to crab body size. At San Antonio Oeste and Riacho San José the relationship between size and proportion of faithful crabs was negative (smaller crabs were more faithful than larger crabs). In Mar Chiquita, a higher proportion of fidelity previous to flooding and a size-dependent response to flooding were detected, suggesting that fidelity may be modulated by tides having different effects on crabs with different body sizes. Equal proportions of males and females displaying site fidelity were observed at all study zones and sites. Our study suggests that N. granulata burrow fidelity behaviour changes with latitude and landscape (mudflat or saltmarsh) and can be sensitive to variables such as body size and frequency of flooding.
Highlights
Site fidelity refers to an organism being associated to a particular place for a given period of time [1]
During the study we found a little number of gravid females, which with the same criteria to the 48 and 72 h data set it was not incorporated to the analysis
Recovery rates of crabs to their burrows varied according to geographic sites (MCH, San Antonio Oeste (SAO) and Riacho San José (RSJ)) and zones
Summary
Site fidelity (i.e. homing to a constant rest site) refers to an organism being associated to a particular place for a given period of time [1]. Site fidelity in non-sessile species may be achieved by the use and/or defence of resources at a given site without travelling very far from it [2]. In species that do travel long distances away from their site, site fidelity may occur if their cognitive abilities enable them to use environmental cues to return home. Various studies were conducted on site fidelity behaviour of several crab species in this type of environment [6,7,8]. Some species, such as certain ocypodid crabs and tropical mangrove crabs display strong site fidelity [9,10,11,12], while
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