Abstract
The fundamental ecological niche is determined by individuals’ ability to cope with abiotic conditions; however, biotic interactions (e.g., competition) can also influence species’ distribution ranges, reducing the fundamental niche to the realized niche. Several species of the genera Clibanarius and Calcinus overlap in their distributions. The agonistically dominant Calcinus species inhabits mostly lower intertidal levels, while Clibanarius is more abundant in the abiotically demanding upper strata. Additionally, evidence of microhabitat competitive exclusion shows that the superior competitor, Ca. californiensis, causes the vertical displacement of Cl. albidigitus. However, it is unknown whether competitive exclusion between species of these genera has influenced their distributions at the macroecological scale. We used ecological niche models to compare the distribution and the habitat suitability of species of these genera. We used databases of species occurrences and bioclimatic and geophysical variables to model and map the species’ niches. Species of the two hermit crab genera showed strong overlap in their habitat suitability. Calcinus and Clibanarius species occur in broad sympatry at the regional scale without regions of partial overlap that would indicate competitive exclusion. Therefore, competitive exclusion among species of these genera seems to act only on a microhabitat scale in the most dynamic shoreline areas.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abrams, P., 1980. Resource partitioning and interspecific competition in a tropical hermit crab community. Ecology 46: 365–379.
Alcaraz, G. & K. Kruesi, 2019. Niche overlap and resource partitioning between two intertidal hermit crab species. Journal of Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 99: 135–142. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025315417001850.
Alcaraz, G., K. Kruesi & L. M. Burciaga, 2020a. The exploitation strategy determines the resource partitioning in hermit crabs. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2019.151272.
Alcaraz, G., B. Toledo & L. M. Burciaga, 2020b. The energetic costs of living in the surf and impacts on zonation of shells occupied by hermit crabs. Journal of Experimental Biology. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.222703.
Anderson, R. P., 2017. When and how should biotic interactions be considered in models of species niches and distributions? Journal of Biogeography 44: 8–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12825.
Anderson, R. P. & E. Martınez-Meyer, 2004. Modeling species’ geographic distributions for preliminary conservation assessments: an implementation with the spiny pocket mice (Heteromys) of Ecuador. Biological Conservation 116: 167–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3207(03)00187-3.
Anderson, R. P., A. T. Peterson & M. Gómez-Laverde, 2002. Using niche-based GIS modeling to test geographic predictions of competitive exclusion and competitive release in South American pocket mice. Oikos 98: 3–16. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0706.2002.t01-1-980116.x.
Araújo, M. B. & M. Luoto, 2007. The importance of biotic interactions for modelling species distributions under climate change. Global Ecology and Biogeography 16: 743–753. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2007.00359.x.
Austin, M. P., 2002. Spatial prediction of species distribution: an interface between ecological theory and statistical modeling. Ecological Modelling 157: 101–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3800(02)00205-3.
Barve, N., V. Barve, A. Jiménez-Valverde, A. Lira-Noriega, S. P. Maher, A. T. Peterson, J. Soberon & F. Villalobos, 2011. The crucial role of the accessible area in ecological niche modeling and species distribution modeling. Ecological Modelling 222: 1810–1819. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2011.02.011.
Bertness, M. D., 1981. Predation, physical stress, and the organization of a tropical rocky intertidal hermit crab community. Ecology 62: 411–425. https://doi.org/10.2307/1936715.
Bivand, R. & C. Rundel, 2019. rgeos: Interface to Geometry Engine. Open Source ('GEOS’). R package version 2.3.0.
Broennimann, O., M. C. Fitzpatrick, P. B. Pearman, B. Petitpierre, L. Pellissier, N. G. Yoccoz, W. Thuiller, M.-J. Fortin, C. Randin, N. E. Zimmermann, C. H. Graham & A. Guisan, 2012. Measuring ecological niche overlap from occurrence and spatial environmental data: measuring niche overlap. Global Ecology and Biogeography 21: 481–497.
Fischer, J., D. B. Lindenmayer & A. Cowling, 2004. The challenge of managing multiple species at multiple scales: reptiles in an Australian grazing landscape. Journal of Applied Ecology 41(1): 32–44. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2004.00869.x.
Garcia-Cardenas, E. E., L. M. Burciaga & G. Alcaraz, 2023. Thermal threshold and interspecific competition help explain intertidal hermit crab assemblages. Journal of Thermal Biology 118: 103728. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2023.103728.
Gherardi, F., 1990. Competition and coexistence in two Mediterranean hermit crabs, Calcinus ornatus (Roux) and Clibanarius erythropus (Latreille) (Decapoda, Anomura). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 143: 221–238. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0981(90)90072-K.
Godsoe, W., J. Franklin & F. G. Blanchet, 2017. Effects of biotic interactions on modeled species’ distribution can be masked by environmental gradients. Ecology and Evolution 7: 654–664. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.2657.
Gordon, C. E., 2000. The coexistence of species. Revista Chilena De Historia Natural 73: 175–198.
Hahn, D. R., 1998. Hermit crab shell use patterns: responses to previous shell experiene and to water flow experience and to water flow. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 228: 35–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-0981(98)00002-1.
Hijmans, R. J., 2019. raster: Geographic Data Analysis and Modeling, R Core Team. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna:
Hijmans, R. J., J. Van Etten, J. Cheng, M. Mattiuzzi, M. Sumner, J. A. Greenberg & M. R. J. Hijmans, 2015. Package ‘raster’. R package, R Package Version 2.9-23. R Core Team. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna.
Hutchinson, G. E., 1957. Concluding remarks. Symposium Quantic Biology 22: 415–427. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315366746.
Kass, J. M., R. Muscarella, P. J. Galante, C. L. Bohl, G. E. Pinilla-Buitrago, R. A. Boria, M. Soley-Guardia & R. P. Anderson, 2021. ENMeval 2.0: redesigned for customizable and reproducible modeling of species’ niches and distributions. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 12: 1602–1608. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13628.
Koerich, G., J. Assis, G. B. Costa, M. N. Sissini, E. A. Serrão, L. R. Rörig, J. M. Hall-Spencer, J. B. Barufi & P. A. Horta, 2020. How experimental physiology and ecological niche modelling can inform the management of marine bioinvasions? Science of the Total Environment 700: 134692. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134692.
Kruesi, K., L. M. Burciaga & G. Alcaraz, 2022. Coexistence of similar species: evidence of a resource and microhabitat sharing in two intertidal hermit crab species. Hydrobiologia 849: 1531–1541. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-022-04800-4.
Malay, M. C. M. D. & G. Paulay, 2010. Peripatric speciation drives diversification and distributional pattern of reef hermit crabs (Decapoda: Diogenidae: Calcinus). Evolution 64: 634–662. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00848.x.
Mansouri, I., W. Squalli, H. Achiban, M. Mounir, M. Lahsen, E. Ghadraoui & M. Dakki, 2022. Segregation of breeding habitats and feeding resources among five north African game species in Midelt province, Morocco. Biologia (Bratisl) 77: 137–148. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-021-00906-7.
Martin, P. R. & C. K. Ghalambor, 2023. A case for the “Competitive Exclusion-Tolerance Rule” as a general cause of species turnover along the environmental gradients. American Naturalist 202: 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1086/724683.
Muscarella, R., P. J. Galante, M. Soley-Guardia, R. A. Boria, J. M. Kass, M. Uriarte & R. P. Anderson, 2014. ENMeval: an R package for conducting spatially independent evaluations and estimating optimal model complexity for Maxent ecological niche models. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 6: 119–120. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12261.
Perez-Miguel, M., I. S. Wehrtmann, P. Drake & J. A. Cuesta, 2020. Air-exposure behavior: a restricted or a common conduct among intertidal hermit crabs? Nauplius 28: e2020027. https://doi.org/10.1590/2358-2936e2020027.
Peterson, A. T., 2011. Ecological niche conservatism: a time-structured review of evidence. Journal of Biogeography 38: 817–827. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2010.02456.x.
Peterson, T., J. Soberon, R. G. Pearson, R. P. Anderson, E. Martínez-Meyer, M. Nakamura & M. B. Araújo, 2011. Ecological Niches and Geographic Distributions, Princeton University Press, Princeton: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400840670/html.
Posit Team, 2023. RStudio: Integrated Development Environment for R. Posit Software, PBC, Boston, MA. http://www.posit.co/.
R Core Team, 2022. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org/.
Reese, E. S., 1969. Behavioral adaptations of intertidal hermit crabs. Integrative Comparative Biology 9: 343–355. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/9.2.343.
Ricketts, E. F., J. Calvin & J. W. Hedgpeth, 1985. Between Pacific Tides, 5th ed. American Midland Naturalist. Stanford University Press, Standford, CA:
Scaramuzzi, A., I. Freitas, N. Sillero & F. Martínez-Freiría, 2023. Meso-habitat distribution patterns and ecological requirements of two Mediterranean vipers depict weak competition in a contact zone. Journal of Zoology. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.13087.
Schoener, T. W., 1968. The Anolis lizards of Bimini: resource partitioning in a complex fauna. Ecology 49: 704–726. https://doi.org/10.2307/1935534.
Scully, E. P., 1979. The effects of gastropod shell availability and habitat characteristics on shell utilization by the intertidal hermit crab Pagurus longicarpus Say. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 37: 139–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0981(79)90091-1.
Sexton, J. P., P. J. McIntyre, A. L. Angert & K. J. Rice, 2009. Evolution and ecology of species range limits. Annual Review of Ecology Evolution and Systematics 40: 415–436. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.110308.120317.
Shcheglovitova, M. & R. P. Anderson, 2013. Estimating optimal complexity for ecological niche models: a jackknife approach for species with small sample sizes. Ecological Modelling 269: 9–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2013.08.011.
Soberon, J. & M. Nakamura, 2009. Niches and distributional areas: concepts, methods, and assumptions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106: 19644–19650. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0901637106.
Soberon, J. & A. T. Peterson, 2005. Interpretation of models of fundamental ecological niches and species’ distributional areas. Biodiversity Informatics 2: 1–10. https://doi.org/10.17161/bi.v2i0.4.
Spalding, M. D., H. E. Fox, G. R. Allen, N. Davidson, Z. A. Ferdaña, M. A. X. Finlayson & J. Robertson, 2007. Marine ecoregions of the world: a bioregionalization of coastal and shelf areas. BioScience 57: 573–583. https://doi.org/10.1641/B570707.
Stillman, J. H., 2002. Causes and consequences of thermal tolerance limits in rocky intertidal porcelain crabs, genus Petrolisthes. Integrative and Comparative Biology 42: 790–796. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/42.4.790.
Tomanek, L. & B. Helmuth, 2002. Physiological ecology of rocky intertidal organisms: a synergy of concepts. Integrative and Comparative Biology. 42: 771–775. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/42.4.771.
Ulrich, W., J. Jabot & N. J. Gotelli, 2016. Competitive interactions change the pattern of species co-occurrences under neutral dispersal. Journal of Avian Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.03392.
Van Proosdij, A. S., M. S. Sosef, J. J. Wieringa & N. Raes, 2016. Minimum required number of specimen records to develop accurate species distribution models. Ecography 39: 542–552. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.01509.
Vance, R. R., 1972. Competition and mechanism of coexistence in three sympatric of intertidal hermit crabs. Ecology 53: 1062–1074.
Warren, D. L., R. E. Glor & M. Turelli, 2011. Environmental niche equivalency versus conservatism: quantitative approaches to niche evolution. Evolution 65: 1215. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.01204.x.
Warren, D. L., N. J. Matzke, M. Cardillo, J. B. Baumgartner, L. J. Beaumont, M. Turelli, R. E. Glor, N. A. Huron, M. Simões, T. L. Iglesias, J. C. Piquet & R. Dinnage, 2021. ENMTools 1.0: an R package for comparative ecological biogeography. Ecography 44: 504–511. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.05485.
Wisz, M. S., J. Pottier, W. D. Kissling, L. Pellissier, J. Lenoir, C. F. Damgaard, C. F. Dormann, M. C. Forchhammer, J. A. Grytnes, A. Guisan, R. K. Heikkinen, T. T. Høye, I. Kühn, M. Luoto, L. Maiorano, M. C. Nilsson, S. Normand, E. Öckinger, N. M. Schmidt, M. Termansen, A. Timmermann, D. A. Wardle, P. Aastrup & J. C. Svenning, 2013. The role of biotic interactions in shaping distributions and realised assemblages of species: implications for species distribution modelling. Biological Reviews 88: 15–30. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-185X.2012.00235.x.
Young, A. M., 1978. Desiccation tolerances for three hermit crab species Clibanarius vittatus (Bosc), Pagurus pollicaris Say and P. longicarpus Say (Decapoda, Anomura) in the North Inlet Estuary, South Carolina, U.S.A. Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science 6: 117–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/0302-3524(78)90047-6.
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by UNAM-PAPIIT-IN218321. We thank Posgrado en Ciencias del Mar y Limnologia. We thank Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACyT) for scholarships CVU-828535 to EEGC and CVU-475263 to LEAG. We especially thank Dr. Lynna Kiere for reviewing this article and for helping with the English editing.
Funding
Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM-PAPIIT IN-218321, Guillermina Alcaraz
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Additional information
Handling editor: Erik Yando
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Garcia-Cardenas, E.E., Angeles-Gonzalez, L.E. & Alcaraz, G. Hermit crabs of the genera Calcinus and Clibanarius show no evidence of competitive exclusion at a geographic scale. Hydrobiologia (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-024-05501-w
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-024-05501-w