The Role of Fiddler Crabs in Marsh Ecology.
Fiddler crabs are key organisms in tidal marshes.
Fiddler crabs are also important in energy flow within the marsh, and play an additional role as organizers of the tidal marsh community. Lastly, fiddler crabs are avid burrowers, and their burrowing activity enhances the growth of Spartina spp., and may increase the turnover, processing and diagenesis of nutrients and other chemicals in the sediments. I undertook to estimate fiddler crab abundances in two distinct marsh habitats at the Goodwin Islands reserve. I also examined the burrowing activity of the crabs in relation to the surface area of the marsh, and the related turnover of sediment as a product of burrowing. Phase II was the study of crab burrowing in relation to subsurface area, and the turnover of sediments in the marsh.