green crab populations (Dominie Consulting and Maine Interagency Task Force on Invasive 
Aquatic Plants and Nuisance Species Technical Subcommittee, 2002). 
Warmer water temperatures due to climate change may thus cause further expansion and 
establishment of green crabs in areas where they previously did not survive through the winter. 
In addition, green crabs may spread and establish more easily in new areas as changes in climate 
reduce native bivalve populations. Climate-change effects also may exacerbate the impacts of 
green crabs to cause further habitat degradation. For example, native populations of 
commercially important clams (e.g., My a arenaria, Nutricola tantilla , Nutricola confusa ), 
already stressed by green crabs and other invasive species, may not be able to withstand the 
added stresses of climate-change effects, which include temperature changes, altered 
precipitation regimes, and altered patterns of wind and water circulation (Kennedy et al., 2002). 
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