Summary
A large number of eutrophic ponds were surveyed for the presence of freshwater gastropods. Factors thought to influence the distribution of the snails were evaluated. As the investigated area has a homogeneous geological background physicochemical factors probably have a low effect on the local distribution of snails. There was a significant, positive regression between pond area and the number of gastropod species in the pond, but the regression only explained a minor part of the variation in species numbers. Multiple regression of an extended number of variables, associated with habitat complexity and dispersal, indicated that, in addition to area, macrophyte diversity and the mean number of gastropods in the 5 closest ponds (S5) were important in explaining the distribution of gastropods. An increase in the number of macrophyte species increases the number of available microhabitats and refuges from predators. S5 probably influences the dispersal rates between ponds. The gastropods in this area are thought to have additional dispersal modes, besides aerial dispersal with birds, and this probably increases the immigration rates and/or decreases the extinction rate.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbott I (1980) Theories dealing with the ecology of landbirds on islands. Adv Ecol Res 11:329–371
Abbott I (1983) The meaning of z in species/area regressions and the study of species turnover in island biogeography. Oikos 41:385–390
Aho J (1978a) Freshwater snail populations and the equilibrium theory of island biogeography. I. A case study in southern Finland. Ann Zool Fennici 15:146–154
Aho J (1978b) Freshwater snail populations and the equilibrium theory of island biogeography. II. Relative importance of chemical and spatial variables. Ann Zool Fennici 15:155–164
Barbour CD, Brown JH (1974) Fish species diversity in lakes. Am Nat 108:473–489
Barnes LA (1983) The colonization of ball-clay ponds by macroinvertebrates and macrophytes. Freshw Biol 13:561–578
Boycott AE (1930) A re-survey of the freshwater mollusca of the Parish of Aldenham after ten years with special reference to the effect of drought. Trans Hertfordshire Nat Hist Soc 19:1–25
Brown JH, Kodric-Brown A (1977) Turnover rates in insular biogeography: effect of immigration on extinction. Ecology 58:445–449
Browne RA (1981) Lakes as islands: biogeographic distribution, turnover rates, and species composition in the lakes of central New York. J Biogeography 8:75–83
Calow P (1973) Gastropod associations within Malham Tarn, Yorkshire. Freshw Biol 3:521–534
Connor EF, McCoy ED (1979) The statistics and biology of the species-area relationship. Am Nat 113:791–833
Connor EF, McCoy ED, Cosby BJ (1983) Model discrimination and expected slope values in species-area studies. Am Nat 122:789–796
Covich AP, Knežević B (1978) Size-selective predation by fish on thin-shelled gastropods (Lymnaea); the significance of floating vegetation (Trapa) as a physical refuge. Verh Internat Verein Limnol 20:2172–2177
Croll RP (1983) Gastropod chemoreception. Biol Rev 58:293–319
Dillon RT, Benfield EF (1982) Distribution of pulmonate snails in the New River of Virginia and North Carolina, USA: interaction between alkalinity and stream drainage area. Freshw Biol 12:179–186
Gilbert FS (1980) The equilibrium theory of island biogeography: fact or fiction? J Biogeography 7:209–235
Harman WN (1972) Benthic subtrates: their effect on freshwater mollusca. Ecology 53:271–277
Hubbard MD (1973) Experimental insular biogeography: ponds as islands. Florida Scientist 36:132–141
Jensén S (1971) Botanisk inventering av småsjöar i trakten av Östra Grevie (SV Skåne). Länsstyrelsen, Malmö
Johnson MP, Simberloff DS (1974) Environmental determinants of island species numbers in the British Isles. J Biogeography 1:149–154
Keddy PA (1976) Lakes as islands: the distributional ecology of two aquatic plants, Lemna minor L. and L. trisulca L. Ecology 57:353–359
Lassen HH (1975) The diversity of freshwater snails in view of the equilibrium theory of island biogeography. Oecologia (Berlin) 19:1–8
Lomolino MV (1982) Species-area and species-distance relationships of terrestrial mammals in the Thousand Island Region. Oecologia (Berlin) 54:72–75
MacArthur RH, Wilson EO (1967) The theory of island biogeography. Princeton Univ Press, New Jersey
Martin TE (1981) Species-area slopes and coefficients: a caution on their interpretation. Am Nat 118:823–837
McGuiness KA (1984) Equations and explanations in the study of species-area curves. Biol Rev 59:423–440
Nilsson AN (1984) Species richness and succession of aquatic beetles in some kettle-hole ponds in northern Sweden. Holarct Ecol 7:149–156
Nilsson SG, Nilsson IN (1978) Breeding bird community densities and species richness in lakes. Oikos 31:214–221
Pip E (1978) A survey of the ecology and composition of submerged aquatic snail-plant communities. Can J Zool 56:2263–2279
Pip E, Stewart JM (1976) The dynamics of two aquatic plant-snail associations. Can J Zool 54:1192–1205
Preston FW (1962) The canonical distribution of commonness and rarity. Ecology 43:185–215, 410–432
Rees WJ (1965) The aerial dispersal of Mollusca. Proc Malac Soc Lond 36:269–282
Rusterholz KA, Howe RW (1979) Species-area relations of birds on small islands in a Minnesota lake. Evolution 33:468–477
Sepkoski JJ Jr, Rex MA (1974) Distribution of freshwater mussels: coastal rivers as biogeographic islands. Syst Zool 23:165–188
Simberloff DS (1974) Equilibrium theory of island biogeography and ecology. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 5:161–179
Sousa WP (1979) Experimental investigations of disturbance and ecological succession in a rocky intertidal algal community. Ecol Monogr 49:227–254
Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1981) Biometry. 2nd ed. Freeman, San Francisco
Sughihara G (1981) S=AC z, z=1/4: a reply to Connor and McCoy. Am Nat 117:790–793
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brönmark, C. Freshwater snail diversity: effects of pond area, habitat heterogeneity and isolation. Oecologia 67, 127–131 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00378463
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00378463