Interaction between anthropogenic stressors affects antipredator defense in an intertidal crustacean.

ABSTRACT: The marine environment is increasingly subject to changes driven by anthropogenic stressors which may alter species' key behaviors and impact phenotypic plasticity. Such stressors rarely occur in isolation, yet our understanding of how simultaneous stresses affect marine organisms is limited. Here, we study the combined impacts of a major global stressor, temperature increase, and a local stressor, anthropogenic noise, upon key defensive traits of the shore crab, Carcinus maenas. We tested the color change and behavioral responses of crabs in relatively colder and warmer water, and in the presence of natural ambient or ship noise. Using image analysis and a model of predator vision, we demonstrate that crabs change color, and improve camouflage, fastest in warmer water in the absenc

SUBMITTER: Coles L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11520746 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature