The influence of environmental factors on the abundance and recruitment of the sand crab Emerita analoga (Stimpson 1857): Source–sink dynamics?

• The source–sink habitat hypothesis was evaluated using the sand crab Emerita analoga.
• A data set from ten beaches sampled seasonally during five years was utilized.
• Source–sink habitat proxies correlated positively with morphodynamic parameters.
• Higher density of adults and recruits occur in beaches with milder physical dynamics.
• Higher cohort occurrence was detected in milder habitats.

The sandcrab Emerita analoga is the dominant species inhabiting sandy beaches along the Pacific coast of the American continent. In our study, 10 sandy beaches were sampled seasonally from 2006 to 2011, including coastal planktonic sampling from 2006 to 2008. Two major population cores were detected, the first one in the northern part of the study area and the second in the area immediately to the south of the Itata River mouth. Zoeal stages were found along the entire coastal zone. Highest densities and recruitment were found during spring and summer of each year. PLS regression indicated that source–sink habitat proxies correlated positively with morphodynamic parameters; while beach slope and total organic matter were negatively correlated. These results agree with the source–sink hypothesis, finding higher densities of adults, recruits and cohort recurrence on open coast beaches with milder physical dynamics. Furthermore, a hypoxic event and a mega-earthquake/tsunami negatively affected recruitment at the inter-annual scale.