Investigating the influence of habitat type and weather conditions on the population dynamics of land snails Vertigo angustior Jeffreys, 1830 and Vertigo moulinsiana (Dupuy, 1849). A case study from western Poland

The conservation of land snails has become an urgent issue because of the current global decline of this group. Detailed knowledge of population dynamics is needed to develop an appropriate strategy for conservation. We investigated the population dynamics of two threatened European land snail species: Vertigo angustior and Vertigo moulinsiana. Although the species may be found at the same site, V. moulinsiana is more tolerant of wetter conditions than is V. angustior. Abundance data for the two species were collected at two sites (one drier and one wetter) in western Poland biweekly during the spring and summer months in 2008 and 2009. In the drier year, snail abundance was similar between the drier and wetter sites. In the wetter year, snail abundances were generally higher than in the dry year, except that the inundation-intolerant V. angustior became less abundant at the wetter site. We conclude that weather affects different species differently and therefore should be considered along with the habitat features in interpreting survey results for land snails.