Presented by: Dr Kerry-Ann van der Walt (Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, NRF-SAIAB)
Tiny Titans? Evaluating the resiliency and functional connectivity of Brachyuran early life stages within a southern African urban coastal system in a changing climate.
The recording of this seminar is available on the SAIAB YouTube Channel below:
Estuaries and rocky shores are fundamental ecosystems for biodiversity, often acting as nurseries for larvae and juveniles of marine organisms and settlement areas for intertidal species. Effects such as urbanisation, rising sea levels and increasing mean ocean temperatures, however, may be placing ecological and physiological pressure on the early life stages recruiting into coastal systems. Multifaceted coastal defences, specifically seawalls and jetties, may carry negative connotations as they often result in decreased and fragmented abundance of marine coastal biodiversity.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the resiliency and functional connectivity of Brachyuran (crab) early life stages in order to understand the impact of temperature changes on these crab populations within urban coastal systems.
