Mechanisms of possible self-limitation in the invasive Asian shore crab Hemigrapsus sanguineus

Population sizes of invasive species are commonly characterized by boom-bust dynamics, and self-limitation via resource depletion is posited as one factor leading to these boom-bust changes in population size. Yet, while this phenomenon is well-documented in plants, few studies have demonstrated that self-limitation is possible for invasive animal species, especially those that are mobile. Here we examined the invasive Asian shore crab Hemigrapsus sanguineus, a species that reached very high abundances throughout invaded regions of North America, but has recently declined in many of these same regions. We examined the relationship between diet, energy storage, reproduction, and growth in crabs collected from the New Hampshire coast. We show that energy storage and reproduction both increase with diet quality, while growth declines with diet quality. These results suggest that self-limitation may be a contributing factor to the recent declines of H. sanguineus at sites where this invader was once much more abundant. Further, these results suggest a diet-associated tradeoff in energy allocation to different vital rates, with a focus on reproduction when high quality resources are consumed, and a focus instead on growth when poor quality resources are consumed.