Crabs play an important role in maintaining, modifying and regulating the benthic environment by influencing both abiotic and biotic components. Many crab species dig burrows in the wild, altering the surface characteristics of sediments and driving nutrient cycling (Pandya, 2011). Feeding activity, degradation of mangrove leaf litter, and pelleting by several fiddler crab species alter substrate characteristics and organic matter content. Furthermore, their biological products such as feces contain nitrogen, carbon, phosphorus, and trace metals, constituting a rich source of food for other consumers (Kuraeuter, 1976). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Bioturbatory processes of crabs in the intertidal area result in a variety of biogenic structures and signatures that control an assortment of processes important to an ecosystem. These include oxygen facilitation in the subsurface depth enabling microbial diversity and oxic-anoxic zonation of sediments, feeding activity (scraping the organic-rich upper layer of sediments) regulates organic content, algal cover and byproducts of the intestine enrich the sediments with minerals (Arya et al., 2014). In mangrove ecosystems, burrowing activity by crabs increases soil porosity, thereby increasing mangrove seedling regeneration (Khan et al., 2005). The burrowing habit helps oxidize sulfide that accumulates due to the high rate of organic decomposition in mangrove swamps (Diemont et al., 1975). Crabs have been recognized as regulators of estuarine community structure (Dittel et al., 1995; Heck and Coen, 1995). They constitute the food of predatory fish, terrestrial vertebrates (Siddon & Witman, 2004), and their larvae are also consumed by many carnivores and therefore crabs play an important role in the food chain (Macintosh et al., 1984). Crabs potentially rich in protein and other nutrients not only meet the nutritional needs of coastal fishermen but also significantly contribute to the sustainable livelihood economies of local people. Because crabs prey and prey, they have a potential influence on the behavior, distribution and abundance of their own and neighboring communities (Seeley, 1986; Trussell & Nicklin, 2002). Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom article template now from our expert writers. Get a Custom Essay In intertidal areas, these organisms function as super creatures by adapting to the severity of a variety of environmental factors such as desiccation stress, temperature, predation, salinity change, tidal fluctuations, sediment deposition to name a few. These could be the probable causes of spatial and temporal variations in community patterns. Studies on brachyuran crabs are important for the formulation of conservation policies (Fransozo et al., 1992; Hebling et al., 1994) because such investigations lead to a better understanding of community structure and ecological processes..