Crustaceans in a changing world.

Abstract

Global change already has a major impact on freshwater (reviews Woodward et al., 2010; Woolway et al., 2021) and marine ecosystems (reviews Molinos et al., 2016; Boyd et al., 2018), as witnessed by long term data series (Wiltshire et al., 2010; Boersma et al., 2016). Crustaceans represent one of the most species-rich groups both in our oceans and freshwater bodies and display a large diversity of sizes, morphologies, lifestyles, and life histories. Crustaceans representatives have colonized habitats extending from the deepest ocean trenches and hydrothermal vents, across the vast water bodies of the world s oceans, through intertidal and supratidal coastal habitats. They also inhabit anchihaline caves, inland freshwater ecosystems including endorheic lakes, and terrestrial habitats such as desert saltpans, epiphytic bromeliads in mountain forests, and rocky plateaus of coastal and oceanic islands (reviews e.g. Schram, 2013; Watling and Thiel, 2015; Wellborn and Thiel, 2018). Crustaceans play central roles in these various habitats, take part in ecosystem functioning by controlling primary production, and transfer energy and nutrients from primary producers to higher trophic levels. Many decapod crustaceans, for example, represent key species in coastal, estuarine, and intertidal habitats where they can have such a high abundance that changes in their population structure may directly influence the structure of the whole ecosystem. Because of their broad distribution and contribution in crucial ecosystem functions, crustaceans are strongly affected by changes of environmental drivers such as temperature, salinity and acidification. Therefore, they are ideal models to study the effects of global change, e.g., on species persistence, genetic adaptation, dispersal and colonization of new habitats but also of the impact of other anthropogenic stressors such as pollution by light, nutrients, toxins, and microplastics. This Special Issue brings together contributions on both laboratory-based and field studies written by experts in analysing the fate of crustaceans in a changing world.