Adult Panamanian land crabs Gecarcinus quadratus are important to the forest ecology. During the dry season the red land crabs stay below ground in burrows to avoid drying out. They come out at night to gather leaf litter that they bring back to the burrows to eat, adding organic carbon to the forest soil and increasing its fertility. (Photo courtesy of Joanna Gyory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)[back]
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