Habitat filters mediate successional trajectories in bacterial communities associated with the striped shore crab

The relative importance of stochastic- and niche-based processes shifts during successional time and across different types of habitats. Microbial biofilms are known to undergo such successional shifts. However, little is known about the interaction between these successional trajectories and habitat filters. Harsh habitat filters could affect biofilm successional trajectories by strengthening niche-based processes and weakening stochastic processes. We used mesocosms to track successional trajectories in bacterial communities associated with the striped shore crab (Pachygrapsus transversus). We followed replicated microbial communities under strong and weak habitat filters associated with the crabs gut and carapace. For bacteria, colonization of the crabs gut is constrained by strong chemical and physical filtering, while the carapace remains relatively open for colonization. Consistent with successional models of bacterial biofilms, carapace microbial communities initially converged in community composition at day 8 and diverged thereafter. We expected gut microbial communities to deviate from the trajectory in the carapace and converge towards a subset of tolerant species. Instead, bacterial communities in the gut exhibited low richness, unchanging similarity in composition and turnover in species identities throughout the duration of our study. These habitat filter effects were linked with weak species interactions and low influence from colonization in the gut. If these findings are representative of differences in filter strength in a continuum of successional trajectories, habitat filters may provide basis for predictions that link successional models and habitat types

Fiddler crabs (Uca thayeri, Brachyura: Ocypodidae) affect bacterial assemblages in mangrove forest sediments

To clarify the relationship between the detritivore fiddler crab, Uca thayeri, and sediment bacteria, we quantified morphotype richness, abundance and evenness of these microorganisms inside the crabs’ guts and in mangrove-associated sediments in Sisal, México (21° 9′ N, 90° 1′ W) from July to September 2008. Increased bacterial richness and abundance were observed in mesocosm experiments when nutrients were added to the sediment or in the absence of fiddler crabs. Thus, crab disturbance seems to play a role in shaping the bacterial assemblage by reducing richness and abundance just as nutrient limitation does. Crabs can also play a second role by harboring a subset of bacterial morphotypes inside their gut. We exposed sterile sediment to fiddler crabs and found that viable cells were expelled from the crab’s gut and proliferated in previously sterile substratum. The bacterial community is thus structured by the foraging behavior of fiddler crabs since it benefits some bacteria and restricts others. By agar plating we have obtained conservative results, yet the data suggest that the crab influences the bacterial assemblage in two ways by allowing inoculation of the sand from the gut and reducing bacteria diversity through disturbance when foraging on sediments.C. Cuellar-Gempeler and P. Mungui

Fiddler crabs (Uca thayeri, Brachyura: Ocypodidae) affect bacterial assemblages in mangrove forest sediments

To clarify the relationship between the detritivore fiddler crab, Uca thayeri, and sediment bacteria, we quantified morphotype richness, abundance and evenness of these microorganisms inside the crabs’ guts and in mangrove-associated sediments in Sisal, México (21° 9′ N, 90° 1′ W) from July to September 2008. Increased bacterial richness and abundance were observed in mesocosm experiments when nutrients were added to the sediment or in the absence of fiddler crabs. Thus, crab disturbance seems to play a role in shaping the bacterial assemblage by reducing richness and abundance just as nutrient limitation does. Crabs can also play a second role by harboring a subset of bacterial morphotypes inside their gut. We exposed sterile sediment to fiddler crabs and found that viable cells were expelled from the crab’s gut and proliferated in previously sterile substratum. The bacterial community is thus structured by the foraging behavior of fiddler crabs since it benefits some bacteria and restricts others. By agar plating we have obtained conservative results, yet the data suggest that the crab influences the bacterial assemblage in two ways by allowing inoculation of the sand from the gut and reducing bacteria diversity through disturbance when foraging on sediments