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Assessing the Relative Importance of Estuarine Nursery Habitats—a Dungeness Crab (Cancer magister) Case Study

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Abstract

Estuaries serve as important nurseries for many recreationally and commercially harvested fisheries species. Recent conceptual approaches (i.e., seascape) for assessing the value of estuaries to fisheries have advocated for complex habitat-scale assessments that integrate multiple life-history responses (e.g., abundance, growth, reproduction) and ecological processes across heterogeneous landscapes. Although ecologically compelling, implementing seascape approaches may not be feasible for resource-limited management agencies. In such cases, we propose that resource managers can enhance the identification of fishery important estuarine habitats by integrating attainable aspects of the seascape approach into a more traditional single-response (e.g., abundance) model. Using Dungeness crab (Cancer magister) as a case study, we applied a spatially explicit hybrid approach to assess the relative contribution of different estuarine habitats to that important fishery species within three Oregon estuaries (Tillamook, Yaquina, and Alsea bays). We measured the abundance of juvenile C. magister from low-tide trawls in estuarine channels and the mosaic of habitat characteristics within defined home range distances for the crabs. After identifying and reducing strong intercorrelations among habitat variable data, we developed a best-fit model that associated crab abundance with the most influential habitat variables. We found that lower estuary side channels supported the highest abundance of juvenile crabs; furthermore, crab abundance was positively associated with high salinity and burrowing shrimp (Upogebia pugettensis) density on adjacent unvegetated tidal flats. This hybrid method produced a habitat-specific model that better predicted juvenile C. magister abundance than did a model based on generalized habitat categories.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all those who assisted in this project, including U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staff P. Clinton, T.C. Mochon-Collura, K. Marko, S. Pacella, and J. Stecher; EPA affiliates D. Beugli, A. Billings, and U. Monaghan; EPA interns S. Duncan, I. Heller, R. King, P. Sanchez, and C. Woodworth; Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife staff S. Groth, S. Rumrill, and M. Vance; and University of Washington professor emeritus D.A. Armstrong. We also thank J. Markwiese (EPA), C. Littles (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers), S. Pacella (EPA), and four anonymous reviewers for providing invaluable feedback on initial manuscript drafts. This research was supported in part by an appointment to the Research Participation Program for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) through an interagency agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and EPA. The remainder of this research was funded by the EPA. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.

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  1. ORISE Research Fellow, Pacific Coastal Ecology Branch, Pacific Ecological Systems Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Newport, OR, 97365, USA

    Nathaniel S. Lewis

  2. Pacific Coastal Ecology Branch, Pacific Ecological Systems Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2111 SE Marine Science Dr., Newport, OR, 97365, USA

    David R. Young, Christina L. Folger & Theodore H. DeWitt

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  1. Nathaniel S. Lewis
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Correspondence to Theodore H. DeWitt.

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Communicated by Mark S. Peterson

David R. Young is retired

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Lewis, N.S., Young, D.R., Folger, C.L. et al. Assessing the Relative Importance of Estuarine Nursery Habitats—a Dungeness Crab (Cancer magister) Case Study. Estuaries and Coasts 44, 1062–1073 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-020-00821-1

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