Zonal recovery mechanisms in talitrid crustaceans

Pardi, L.; Ercolini, A.

doi:10.1080/11250008609355499

Cited by 99 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Our results, and previous findings, clearly show that an artificial light source is used at night as if it were the real moon; furthermore, this is largely independent of the light source's intensity and spectral composition or the phase of the real moon (Ugolini et al 2002a(Ugolini et al , 2005). In our experiments, the artificial light source was never mistaken for the sun, since sun compensation at night is based on a mechanism that involves the sun returning to the east after sunset and passing from the south (Talitrus model) instead of from the north (Apis model; Pardi & Ercolini 1986;Ugolini et al 2002b). If the sandhoppers were to identify the artificial light source as the 'sun at night', their directional choice should deviate from the seaeland direction expected for an orientation based on the sun during the day and the moon at night.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The use of the moon as an orienting factor, the existence of a moon compass and of separate chronometric mechanisms for sun and moon compensation, and the use of an artificial light source to reproduce good moon orientation have already been demonstrated in sandhoppers (Pardi & Papi 1952;Pardi & Ercolini 1986;Ugolini et al 1999aUgolini et al , 2002aUgolini et al , 2005). The aim of our research was to test whether the sandhopper's time-compensating mechanism for lunar compass orientation continues to work when the moon is invisible (during the new moon phase).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Despite its lack of a circatidal activity rhythm (Williams 1979), T. saltator is among the few arthropods in which a moon compass has been demonstrated: sandhoppers use the moon and sun as compass cues to steer the correct and shortest route along the seae land axis of their home beach (Papi & Pardi 1953;Pardi & Ercolini 1986;Ugolini et al 1999aUgolini et al , 2002a.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…zonal recovery) is shared by many arthropods of different taxa living in the same or similar habitats (ecotonal environments, see Campan 1997). This zonal recovery is mainly based on the ability to compensate chronometrically for the azimuthal variation of the sun and moon to maintain (theoretically constant) the seaeland direction of orientation throughout the day and night (reviewed in Pardi & Ercolini 1986;Ugolini et al 2002a;.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Moon orientation on moonless nights

2007

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The sandhopper Talitrus saltator is known to use sun and moon compasses to return to the band of wet sand on a beach. The two compass systems are based on separate chronometric mechanisms that compensate for the azimuthal movement of the two astronomical cues. The aim of our research was to test whether the sandhopper's time-compensating mechanism for lunar compass orientation continues to work during the new moon phase (i.e. when the moon is not visible). Our tests were carried out in a confined environment under the natural sky and in the laboratory under artificial light, in both the full and new moon phases. Sandhoppers released in sea water headed towards the expected land direction of their home beach using the natural or artificial moon as a compass cue independently of the moon's natural phase, including the new moon phase. The sandhoppers' chronometric mechanism that compensates for the moon's azimuthal motion thus works continuously, even during the phase when the actual moon is never visible. This could be based on spatiotemporal interpolation between visible moon positions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Moon orientation on moonless nights

2007

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“…Several behavioural studies were carried out on the sandhopper Talitrus saltator, a widespread talitrid amphipod that often dominates (in term of abundance) sandy beach communities at temperate northern latitudes on Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts (Scapini, 2006). One of the most interesting behavioural aspects shown by this and related talitrid species is zonal recovery, namely the ability to come back to the intertidal beach zone after spontaneous or accidental displacements, searching for the right moisture conditions to burrow into avoiding dehydration risk (Pardi and Ercolini, 1986). The correct orientation is ensured by a redundancy of mechanisms, both heritable (sun-compass, beach slope) and learned (landscape features, reviewed by Scapini, 2006); orientation can also be modified according to the immediate climatic and ecological beach characteristics, adapting to an increasing risk of dehydration or submersion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macrofaunal community abundance and diversity and talitrid orientation as potential indicators of ecological long-term effects of a sand-dune recovery intervention

Nourisson

Bessa

Scapini

et al. 2014

Ecological Indicators

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a b s t r a c tIn the last decades the increasing urban development on coastal areas have produced extensive modifications on shores all over the world, making critical the active management of pressures on sandy beaches. The use of engineering solutions to counteract beach erosion has been significantly increasing; the ecological indicators used to monitor these interventions generally focus on short-and medium-term effects, while little is known on their effectiveness on long-term temporal scales. The following ecological indicators have been tested in the present study: (a) macrofaunal community abundance and diversity and (b) orientation behaviour of Talitrus saltator, a talitrid amphipod widespread on Mediterranean and European Atlantic sandy beaches. Two sites were considered on a sandy beach of the Portuguese Atlantic coast, one located in front of a natural dune and the other at about 500 m of distance, where the dune had been rebuilt between 2000 and 2008 using geotextile tubes. In 2011 and 2012, macrofauna sampling and orientation experiments on T. saltator were performed at both sites in spring and autumn; contemporaneously the main environmental variables were registered. Macrofaunal data were analysed through multivariate statistical tests, and for the orientation distributions the circular statistics were calculated and multivariate analyses for angular data were performed. Geotextiles appeared to be successful in stabilising the recovered dunes; accordingly, the diversity of the macrofaunal communities and the orientation performances of T. saltator showed no differences between the altered and control sites. Significant reductions were nevertheless observed in the artificial-dune site regarding the abundance of T. saltator and, to a lesser extent, macrofaunal densities, likely ascribable to the presence of geotextiles instead of a vegetated natural dune, preventing invertebrates to burrow into the sand. These results, complementing a more comprehensive study on these two sites, indicate the abundance of T. saltator as the best indicator to follow long-term effects of this kind of soft-engineering intervention. The use of this bioindicator may be recommended for the late phases of monitoring procedures in dune-recovery processes.

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