Uçá-crab (Ucides cordatus) as an indicator species of climate changes in Western Atlantic: does tidal flooding affect its density and population structure in mangroves?

• Grant number: 17/03915-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2017
• End date: December 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Antonio Amaro Pinheiro
• Grantee: Camila Evelyn Rodrigues Pimenta
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB-CLP). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus Experimental do Litoral Paulista. São Vicente , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The "uçá"-crab (Ucides cordatus) is endemic from mangroves and its population biology can be altered by abiotic and biotic parameters, mainly due to local climate changes. Present study aims to evaluate the density and population structure of this brachyuran, in function of the flooding by tides and, consequently, according to changes in sediment granulometry and composition/biometry of the arboreal vegetation. The population parameters will be compared spatial (margin and "apicum") and seasonally (summer vs. winter), based on the environmental variables and vegetation. The project will be conducted in the Juréia-Itatins Ecologic Station, Peruíbe (SP), employing five sample units (5x5m), in which of them will be recorded the density of crabs (indirect method by counting of the number of galleries/area) and population structure of this species (frequency histograms, using the diameter of the galleries converted to the animal size). In each sampling quadrat the mangrove trees shall be measured (height and diameter), registered the height of flooding by tides and sediment sampling for particle size analysis. Abiotic and biotic variables are related to population parameters for Spearman's rank correlation, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Multiple Correlation "stepwise", at a significance level of 5%. (AU)