Patterns of recolonisation and the importance of pit-digging by the crab Cancer pagurus in a subtidal sand habitat

Abstract

Each individual digs 6-7 pits d-1, with a total of 20 pits dug in a 1000 m2 area each day. Recolonisation of simulated crab pits suggest that the community returned to its original state within 25-30 d, achieved initially by erosion from the surrounding sediments, followed by the random arrival of adult colonists from the available benthic pool. Some 3.6% of the habitat will be at some stage of recovery from disturbance by pit-digging. -from Authors