Community-Based Conservation for Endangered Tachypleus tridentatus: A Case Study of the Tangdong Horseshoe Crab Conservation Community on the Southeast China Coast

The endangered Chinese horseshoe crab (Tachypleus tridentatus) suffers severe habitat degradation and coastal tourism disturbance across its nursery habitats along the Southeast China coast. Community based conservation (CBC) acts as a valuable complementary Other Effective area based Conservation Measure (OECM); yet few integrated domestic case studies combine ecological field monitoring with quantitative social ecological assessment. Based on the “Action for the Sea” supported Tangdong Horseshoe Crab Conservation Community in Fujian Province, this study integrates non destructive seasonal juvenile horseshoe crab surveys, questionnaire driven social ecological evaluation, coupling coordination and obstacledegree modelling, together with multi year project archival records. Results reveal that overlyingwater physicochemical parameters (temperature, salinity, pH) at Antenna Beach maintain suitable ranges for juvenile T. tridentatus across seasons, while juvenile abundance peaks temporally coincide with the peak tourist season. The tourism disturbance resilience socialecological system exhibits moderate coupling accompanied by mild dysfunctional coordination. Major bottlenecks include fragile volunteer capacity, incomplete conservation livelihood feedback loops, and tourism induced sociocultural pressures. This “science led local participation cultural tourism integration” practical model has obtained both domestic and international recognition. Targeted adaptive management measures are further proposed to support community based intertidal biodiversity conservation across the Asia Pacific region.