Stelling-Wood Talia P, Clark Graeme F, Poore Alistair G B
Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Mar Environ Res. 2016 May;116:32-40. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2016.02.009. Epub 2016 Feb 26.
Sandy beaches in highly urbanised areas are subject to a wide range of human impacts. Ghost crabs are a commonly used ecological indicator on sandy beaches, as they are key consumers in these systems and counting burrow openings allows for rapid assessment of population size. This study assessed the pressures of urbanisation on sandy beaches in the highly urbanised estuary of Sydney Harbour. Across 38 beaches, we examined which physical beach properties, management practices and human induced habitat modification best predicted ghost crab distributions. Of all variables measured, the frequency of mechanical beach cleaning was the most important predictor of crab abundance, with low burrow densities at the highest cleaning frequency and the highest densities at beaches cleaned at the intermediate frequency (≤3 times per week). These results indicate that ghost crab populations in Sydney Harbour are more robust to the impacts of urbanisation than previously thought.
高度城市化地区的沙滩受到多种人类活动的影响。幽灵蟹是沙滩上常用的生态指标，因为它们是这些生态系统中的关键消费者，通过统计洞穴开口数量可以快速评估种群规模。本研究评估了城市化对悉尼港高度城市化河口沙滩的压力。在38个海滩上，我们研究了哪些沙滩物理属性、管理措施和人为导致的栖息地改变最能预测幽灵蟹的分布。在所有测量变量中，机械清理沙滩的频率是蟹类丰度最重要的预测指标，清理频率最高时洞穴密度低，而清理频率处于中等水平（每周≤3次）的海滩上洞穴密度最高。这些结果表明，悉尼港的幽灵蟹种群对城市化影响的耐受性比之前认为的更强。
