Crabs on the Move: Climate Migrants Fiddle with the Great Marsh | Science News
Fiddler crab. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Since 2003, marine ecologist David Johnson has spent time doing field work in the Plum Island Ecosystem, a long-term ecological research station (LTER) MBL Ecosystems Center. This video from Science News highlights Johnson's work documenting fiddler crabs pushing northward into Great Marsh. Anne Giblin, Director of the Ecosystems Center, is also featured.
Nearly a decade ago, researcher David Johnson found a type of crab never seen before in the Great Marsh, the largest remaining salt marsh left in New England. Johnson knew these fiddler crabs represented a marker of climate change pushing species north. What he wasn't sure of was whether the fiddler crabs would spell disaster or if the marsh could adapt to their invasion. His ongoing work is one example of researchers zooming in on how climate migrants could shift ecosystems as climate change continues.