Vacancy Chains Provide Aggregate Benefits To Coenobita clypeatus Hermit Crabs

Many different animals rely on resources that are discrete, reusable and limited in their use to a single individual ⁄ group at a time; some examples include hermit crabs sheltering in gastropod shells, anemone-dwelling clownfish and cavity-nesting birds. Vacancy chain theory was developed in social science research to describe how vacancies involving discrete, reusable resources such as apartments or jobs will propagate in human populations (White 1970; Chase 1991; Friman 2004). When a single individual acquires a new resource, the vacancy created by this move then cascades through the system in a series of inter-related events. Vacancy chain processes and associated behaviors are thus likely to be important mechanisms influencing shelter-based resource distribution in diverse animal groups. Correspondence Sara Lewis, Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA. E-mail: [email protected]