Land snail diversity and distribution across habitat gradients and local ecological knowledge in Mount Banahaw [Quezon, Philippines] Protected Landscape
2018
Perez, K.M.G.
The diversity and distribution of land snails across three habitat gradients, old-growth forest, young secondary forest and agroforest, were determined in Mount Banahaw. Four slopes (northeast- Luban, southeast-Tayabas, northwest-Majayjay, southwest-Dolores) were selected for land snail sampling, key informant interview (KII), and focus group disucsison (FGD). Altitude, temperature, relative humidity, canopy cover, soil pH, soil moisture, soil exchangeable calcium, leaf litter depth, number of trees, and bh, were measured. Thirty-six 20x20 quadrat (400m2) were set randomly per slope. Point-center quarter method (PCQM perpendicular to the quadrat were set to determine the tree species per sampling site. Out of 868 individuals, 34 species of land snails belonging to eleven families (Achatinidae, Ariophantidae, Bradybaenidae, Camaenidae, Cyclophoridae, Diplommatinidae, Helicinidae, Helicarionidae, Pupinidae, Subulinidae, Trochomorphidae) were identified. The most diverse (H'=2.44) and even (J'=0.63) was old-growth forest. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) and Generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) revealed that the most significant predictor for species richness was altitude (B=0.4748, p 0.02) while for abundance was exchangeable soil calcium (E 5 mm shell diameter and height) such as Helicostyla rufogaster (bayukong tulis), Helicostyla mirabilis (bayukong lason), Lissachatina fulica (bayukong hapon) and the edible endemic land snail Ryssota otaheitana (bayuko/bikuyo). However, they were unaware of the existence of micro snails ( 5mm shell diameter and height). Local ecological knowledge showed awareness of ecological roles of snails being a food and calcium source for animals, decomposers, and aid in nutrient cycling and soil formation.
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