Autor(es): Rato, Lénia D. ; Crespo, Daniel ; Lemos, Marco F. L.
Data: 2021
Identificador Persistente: https://hdl.handle.net/10316/100683
Origem: Estudo Geral - Universidade de Coimbra
Assunto(s): Biological invasions; Brachyura; Environmental tolerance; Global changes; Integrative approaches; Traits
Crustaceans are amongst the most reported invaders of coastal habitats, and predatory brachyuran crabs one of the most successful marine invasive groups. They hold high tolerance to abiotic stress and their genetic, life- history, and behavioural adaptation mechanisms prompt their invasive conspicuousness. However, there is a generalized ambiguity on the specific processes that make these bioinvasions successful. No trait-related patterns have yet been found, mostly since traits attributed solely to non-indigenous crab species lack confirmation by comparison with their native counterparts and across each other. Therefore, this review discusses the available literature on fitness and plasticity of brachyuran crabs under global changes, and advances the increasing importance of addressing native versus non-native invasive species comparisons in the annals of brachyura in- vasion dynamics. Further on, integrative approaches are highlighted and proposed as innovative tools to disentangle trait-related tolerance, overall crab phenotypic plasticity and further adaptation. These indicator tools will advance the knowledge on crabs’ invasive potential, which ultimately affects upcoming population dynamics and ecosystem services, adding value to an effective management of coastal bioinvasions
Integrated Programme of SR&TD “SmartBioR” (reference Centro-01-0145-FEDER-000018). Project “Global Invaders - Global trends among valued aquatic invertebrate species: competitive advantages across different latitudes” funded by FCT and DAAD - Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst.
