Multi-scale phenotype-substrate matching: Evidence from shore crabs (Carcinus maenas L.)

Abstract

Phenotype-environment correlations can be caused by various overlapping ecological processes (e.g. differential mortality, phenotypic plasticity and adaptation) operating over a range of spatial and temporal scales. However, multi-scale studies of the relationship between specific traits and environmental variables are rare, even though such a holistic view may have greater predictive value than the more typical single-scale observations. Here, we investigate the relationship between cryptic colouration and environmental characteristics at a range of spatial scales for the shore crab (Carcinus maenas L.), a common intertidal species. Using existing data sets at macro-scale (10,000sm2) and meso-scale (100sm2) and previously unpublished data at a micro-scale (