Mathematical model of the fiddler crab (Genus Uca) population dynamics

• Grant number: 14/20970-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2014
• End date: November 30, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - General Physics
• Principal Investigator: Fabio Stucchi Vannucchi
• Grantee: Pedro Henrique Areco Gomes Moura
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB-CLP). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus Experimental do Litoral Paulista. São Vicente , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Crabs of the genus Uca Leach, 1814 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Ocypodidae), also called fiddlers crabs, occur in estuaries along the Brazilian coast and through feeding and digging activities, contribute to the regulation of the mangrove ecosystem. In this work we will analyze the dynamics of a community of Uca leptodactyla Rathbun, 1898 and Uca uruguayensis Nobili, 1901 present in estuarine environments of Santos, Brazil. For this, a mathematical model will be formulated in terms of a system of coupled ordinary differential equations for the involved populations, and this system will be fitted to the available experimental data. The aim is to analyze the factors that regulate these crabs communities, contributing to the knowledge of their ecology.