• Login
    View Item 
    •   IDA Home
    • Faculty -- Research, Data, Projects, and Papers
    • Faculty Projects and Publications
    • View Item
    •   IDA Home
    • Faculty -- Research, Data, Projects, and Papers
    • Faculty Projects and Publications
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Field-based body temperatures reveal behavioral thermoregulation strategies of the Atlantic marsh fiddler crab Minuca pugnax

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    preprint (429.8Kb)
    figure data for burrow-surface vs Tb-surface for females (4.996Kb)
    figure data for burrow-surface vs Tb-surface for males (6.552Kb)
    Figure data for Tb-surface females (6.889Kb)
    Figure data for Tb-surface males (4.881Kb)
    median body temperature for large males (13.84Kb)
    median body temperature for large females (14.11Kb)
    median body temperature for small females (11.52Kb)
    median body temperature for small males (13.90Kb)
    Date
    2020-07-04
    Author
    Brodie, Renae
    Hews, Sarah
    Allen, Zahkeyah
    Baxter, Adrienne
    Sheikh, Zahida
    Wu, Jenny
    Zakoul, Heidi
    Rich, Jacquline
    Taylor, Kayla
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    Behavioral thermoregulation is an important defense against the negative impacts of climate change for ectotherms. In this study we examined the use of burrows by a common intertidal crab, Minuca pugnax, to control body temperature. To understand how body temperatures respond to changes in the surface temperature and explore how efficiently crabs exploit the cooling potential of burrows to thermoregulate, we measured body, surface, and burrow temperature data during low tide on Sapelo Island, GA in March, May, August, and September of 2019 . We found that an increase in 1°C in the surface temperature led to a 0.70-0.71°C increase in body temperature for females and an increase in 0.75-0.77 °C in body temperature for males. Body temperatures of small females were 0.3°C warmer than large females for the same surface temperature. Female crabs used burrows more efficiently for thermoregulation compared to the males. Specifically, an increase of 1 degree C in the cooling capacity (the difference between the burrow temperature and the surface temperature) led to an increase of 0.42-0.50°C for females and 0.34-0.35 °C for males in the thermoregulation capacity (the difference between body temperature and surface temperature). The body temperature that crabs began to use burrows to thermoregulate was estimated to be around 24 degree C, which is far below the critical body temperatures that could lead to death. Many crabs experience body temperatures of 24 °C early in the reproductive season, several months before the hottest days of the year. Because the use of burrows involves fitness trade-offs, these results suggest that warming temperatures could begin to impact crabs far earlier in the year than expected.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10166/6285
    Collections
    • Faculty Projects and Publications

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2015  DuraSpace
    Contact Us | Send Feedback | MHC Accessibility Barriers Form
    Theme by 
    @mire NV
     

     

    Browse

    All of IDACommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2015  DuraSpace
    Contact Us | Send Feedback | MHC Accessibility Barriers Form
    Theme by 
    @mire NV