Looking for Snails in
Four MELNHE Stands
STEPHANIE SUTTENBERG
SUNY ESF ‘17
REU SHOESTRING CREW

Background
 Snails are found in leaf litter (Oi layer)
 Need to be damp -- desiccation
 Snails need Ca (Skeldon et al 2007)
 Watershed 1
 Increase numbers
 Not useable
 Little research on N and P
 Lower phosphorus, lower growth rate of individuals (Krist 2014)
 Higher nitrogen, higher snail population (Stuart A. 2014)
v

Hypotheses
N
P
N&P
Ca

Methods
 Cardboards placed in C6, C8, JBO and JBM
 Selected for Ca
 Two 8.5x11in cardboard sheets are laid out in each outer point
>0.25 inch rain event
top layers of leaf litter are dry
One plot

Collection Methods
 Check underside of cardboard for snails
 Snails collected in pre-labeled vials
 Killed with 95% ethanol
 Later transferred to storage vials
 Collected four times

Collection Methods
 Check underside of cardboard for snails
 Snails collected in pre-labeled vials
 Killed with 95% ethanol
 Later transferred to storage vials
 Collected four times

90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Average Snails Collected Summer 2014
Co N P N&P Ca Co N P N&P Ca Co N P N&P Ca Co N P N&P Ca
C6 C8 JBO JBM
Average number of snails
Stand and Plot

16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Average Snails Collected Summer 2014
Co N P N&P Ca Co N P N&P Ca Co N P N&P Ca Co N P N&P Ca
C6 C8 JBO JBM
Average number of snails
Stand and Plot
81.75

16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Average Snails Collected Summer 2014
Co N P N&P Ca Co N P N&P Ca Co N P N&P Ca Co N P N&P Ca
C6 C8 JBO JBM
Average number of snails
Stand and Plot
81.75
Compared to Control
N- only increase JBO

16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Average Snails Collected Summer 2014
Co N P N&P Ca Co N P N&P Ca Co N P N&P Ca Co N P N&P Ca
C6 C8 JBO JBM
Average number of snails
Stand and Plot
81.75
Compared to Control
N- only increase JBO
P- Only increase JBO

16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Average Snails Collected Summer 2014
Co N P N&P Ca Co N P N&P Ca Co N P N&P Ca Co N P N&P Ca
C6 C8 JBO JBM
Average number of snails
Stand and Plot
81.75
Compared to Control
N- only increase JBO
P- Only increase JBO
N&P- No increase

16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Average Snails Collected Summer 2014
Co N P N&P Ca Co N P N&P Ca Co N P N&P Ca Co N P N&P Ca
C6 C8 JBO JBM
Average number of snails
Stand and Plot
81.75
Compared to Control
N- only increase JBO
P- Only increase JBO
N&P- No increase
Ca- Increase except C8

y = 0.282x - 1.9893
r=.50
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Soil Moisture vs. Average Snails Collected
12 17 22 27 32
Average Snails
Soil Moisture

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Least Squared Means
Co N P NP Ca
Treatment
p= 0.3

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Least Squared Means (Without JBO) p = 0.09
Co N P N&P Ca
Treatment
a
b b b
a b

Discussion
Hypotheses Outcome
N
P
N&P
Ca

Discussion
Average of 5.8 snails/m^2
7.6 snails/m^2 (Skeldon et al 2014)
 Leaf litter too damp?
Edge effect?
Dry out faster
 Two phase model for N
 Initial die off, but then favor snail reproduction and survival
(Stuart 2014)
 Recently fertilized (June). Die back stage?

Future Research
 Taxa of individuals will be determined
 Soil pH levels
 Soil composition
 Varying levels of leaf litter dryness
 “Goldilocks zone”

Citations
 Krist, Amy C., Adam D. Kay, Katelyn Larkin, Maurine Neiman. 2014.
Response to Phosphorus Limitation Varies among Lake Populations
of the Freshwater Snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum
 Skeldon, M. et al 2007. Terrestrial gastropod response to an
ecosystem-level calcium manipulation in a northern hardwood
forest.
 Stuart, A., & Palenzuela, N. 2014 Effects of fertilizer applications on
survival and recruitment of the apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata
(Lamarck). Crop Protection.
 Wu, J. et al 2014. Identification of optimum scopes of environmental
factors for snails using spatial analysis techniques in Dongting Lake
Region, China. Parasites & Vectors.

Acknowledgements
 I’d like to thank Eli, Jerome, Nora and Abby for setting out
cardboards
 Adam and Ruth for much needed advice in layouts, stats and
methods
 Eli, Lisa, Adam, Sophie and Justin for collecting snails
 Matt Vadeboncoeur and Cheryl Bondi for helping with methods