Donate to WERU Today!Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley
This episode describes the concept of life history strategy, and highlights findings from a paper that investigated the impact of introduced intertidal crabs (Carcinus maenus, European green crabs and Hemigrapsus sanguineus, Asian shore crabs) on Atlantic rock crabs (Cancer irroratus). The study demonstrated that the rock crab life history strategy of living in the intertidal zone for the first two years of its life is no longer adaptive in areas with introduced crabs, as green crabs and shore crab readily prey on young rock crabs.
Griffen, B. Riley, M. 2015 Potential impacts of invasive crabs on one life history strategy of native rock crabs in the gulf of maine Biol invasions 17: 2533-2544
About the host:
Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the natural world. She teaches biology and sustainability at Maine Maritime Academy and is currently collaborating on a guide book to the intertidal zone in the Gulf of Maine.
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