Characterisation of the crab Neosarmatium meinerti de Man (Decapoda: Sesarminae) predation on Avicennia marina propagules
Van Nedervelde, F.; Berger, U.; Cannicci, S.; Koedam, N.; Dahdouh-Guebas, F. (2009). Characterisation of the crab Neosarmatium meinerti de Man (Decapoda: Sesarminae) predation on Avicennia marina propagules, in: Mees, J. et al. (Ed.) Book of abstracts: an overview of marine research in Belgium anno 2009. 10th VLIZ Young Scientists' Day. Special edition at the occasion of 10 years VLIZ. VLIZ Special Publication, 43: pp. 147
In: Mees, J.; Seys, J. (Ed.) (2009). Book of abstracts: an overview of marine research in Belgium anno 2009. 10th VLIZ Young Scientists' Day. Special edition at the occasion of 10 years VLIZ. Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee (VLIZ): Oostende. xiii, 221 pp., more
Mangrove forests are essential for coastal and reef protection. It is an ecosystem providing protection from sedimentation and a range of goods and utilities for local population (Walters et al., 2008). Avicennia marina is a pioneering mangrove species. This tree plays an important role in the colonization and the recolonization of mangroves (Osborn and Beriak., 1997) as it is one of the first species to settle in unforested and deforested areas (loc. cit.). Neosarmatium meinerti is a herbivorous crab, feeding essentially of leaves fallen on the ground and propagules (Dahdouh-Guebas et al., 1997). The propagule predation has a direct impact on mangrove regeneration (Bosire et al., 2005) and therefore on their dynamics. In this perspective we intend to characterize this predation and assess its impact on mangrove forest dynamics and especially on Avicennia marina. We focus on the time and amount of propagules predated upon and on interactions amongst the predators during feeding.
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