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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 10, 2026

A Noninvasive Method For In situ Determination of Mating Success in Female American Lobsters (Homarus americanus)

A Noninvasive Method For In situ Determination of Mating Success in Female American Lobsters (Homarus americanus)

Published on: February 7, 2014

Effects of habitat patchiness on American lobster movement across a gradient of predation risk and shelter

Kevin A Hovel¹, Richard A Wahle

¹Department of Biology, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, California 92182, USA. hovel@sciences.sdsu.edu

|August 19, 2010

Summary

Landscape patchiness affects juvenile American lobster movement across their range. Despite regional variations in predation and competition, habitat structure consistently influenced lobster behavior, highlighting its ecological significance.

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Area of Science:

Marine Ecology
Landscape Ecology
Behavioral Ecology

Background:

Understanding landscape structure's influence on marine species interactions is crucial.
Few studies assess if landscape effects on behavior are consistent across an organism's range.
American lobster (Homarus americanus) juveniles use rocky habitats for shelter and move to forage.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate how cobble habitat patchiness affects juvenile American lobster movement.
To determine if habitat patchiness influences lobster colonization and shelter fidelity.
To assess consistency of patchiness effects across different New England regions with varying ecological contexts.

Main Methods:

Conducted mark-recapture experiments on juvenile lobsters in patchy and contiguous cobble plots.
Experiments were performed in three distinct New England regions (Rhode Island, mid-coast Maine, eastern Maine).
Assessed lobster movement, colonization rates, and shelter fidelity in relation to habitat structure and regional factors.

Main Results:

Cobble patchiness reduced lobster movement rates across all studied regions in 2004 and in two of three in 2005.
Regional factors had a greater impact on lobster colonization than habitat patchiness.
Shelter fidelity varied, being higher in regions with lower conspecific density.

Conclusions:

Cobble patchiness influences juvenile American lobster movement at small scales.
The effects of habitat patchiness on movement were consistent across the studied range, despite regional variations in predation and competition.
Landscape structure plays a significant role in juvenile lobster behavior and distribution.