TY - JOUR

T1 - Population dynamics of American horseshoe crabs—historic climatic events and recent anthropogenic pressures

AU - Faurby, Søren

AU - King, Tim L.

AU - Obst, Matthias

AU - Hallerman, Eric M.

AU - Pertoldi, Cino

AU - Funch, Peter

PY - 2010

Y1 - 2010

N2 - Populations of the American horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, have declined, but neither the causes nor the magnitude are fully understood. In order to evaluate historic demography, variation at 12 microsatellite DNA loci surveyed in 1218 L. polyphemus sampled from 28 localities was analysed with Bayesian coalescent-based methods. The analysis showed strong declines in population sizes throughout the species’ distribution except in the geographically isolated southern-most population in Mexico, where a strong increase in population size was inferred. Analyses suggested that demographic changes in the core of the distribution occurred in association with the recolonization after the Ice Age and also by anthropogenic effects, such as the past overharvest of thespecies for fertilizer or the current use of the animals as bait for American eel (Anguilla rostrata) and whelk (Busycon spp.) fisheries. This study highlights the importance of considering both climatic changes and anthropogenic effects in efforts to understand population dynamics—a topic which is highly relevant in the ongoing assessments of theeffects of climate change and overharvest.

AB - Populations of the American horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, have declined, but neither the causes nor the magnitude are fully understood. In order to evaluate historic demography, variation at 12 microsatellite DNA loci surveyed in 1218 L. polyphemus sampled from 28 localities was analysed with Bayesian coalescent-based methods. The analysis showed strong declines in population sizes throughout the species’ distribution except in the geographically isolated southern-most population in Mexico, where a strong increase in population size was inferred. Analyses suggested that demographic changes in the core of the distribution occurred in association with the recolonization after the Ice Age and also by anthropogenic effects, such as the past overharvest of thespecies for fertilizer or the current use of the animals as bait for American eel (Anguilla rostrata) and whelk (Busycon spp.) fisheries. This study highlights the importance of considering both climatic changes and anthropogenic effects in efforts to understand population dynamics—a topic which is highly relevant in the ongoing assessments of theeffects of climate change and overharvest.

KW - Dolkhaler

KW - Limulus

KW - horseshoe crabs

KW - Limulus

KW - over-harvest

KW - population decline

KW - population dynamics

U2 - 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2010.04732.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2010.04732.x

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 20584144

VL - 19

SP - 3088

EP - 3100

JO - Molecular Ecology

JF - Molecular Ecology

SN - 0962-1083

ER -