Fine-scale conditions across mangrove microhabitats and larval ontogeny contributes to the thermal physiology of early stage brachyurans (Crustacea: Decapoda).

ABSTRACT: Most marine ectotherms require the successful completion of a biphasic larval stage to recruit into adult populations. Recruitment of larvae into benthic habitats largely depends on biological interactions and favourable environmental conditions such as the inescapable diurnal thermal and tidal exposures. Hence, assessing how different taxa metabolically respond to variations in temperature is imperative to understand the community and ecosystem dynamics at both local and global scales. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of acute temperature variation on the physiology of stage-specific brachyuran larvae collected from different microhabitats at two mangrove forests in South Africa. Results indicate that the conditions within microhabitats, which larvae experience, likely i

SUBMITTER: Vorsatz LD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8059134 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature