AUTHOR=Xie Tian , Wang Andong , Li Shanze , Cui Baoshan , Bai Junhong , Shao Dongdong TITLE=Crab contributions as an ecosystem engineer to sediment turnover in the Yellow River Delta JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science VOLUME=9 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.1019176 DOI=10.3389/fmars.2022.1019176 ISSN=2296-7745 ABSTRACT=
Burrowing crabs are widely distributed and have large populations in estuarine wetlands. Crab excavation can have potentially significant bioturbation effects on the vertical structure of sediments, and the processes of nutrients deposition and mineralization. However, the effects of crab micro activities on the geochemical cycling processes of the whole estuarine ecosystems are not clear, specifically the contributions of burrowing crabs to sediment and nutrients turnover in coastal ecosystems. Due to the lack of knowledge on crab burrowing behavior and borrow morphology, it is difficult to accurately estimate the excavation and turnover volumes of crabs. Therefore, this study examined the bioturbation activity of the crab