The document describes a study that placed cardboard in four forest stands to collect snails and examine the effects of nitrogen, phosphorus, and calcium additions. Cardboard collection occurred four times over the summer. The results showed that only nitrogen and phosphorus additions in one stand (JBO) increased snail numbers compared to the control. Calcium additions increased snail numbers in all stands except one. The study aims to further examine the impacts of soil properties on snail populations.

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

2. 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

3. Hypotheses
N
P
N&P
Ca

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Least Squared Means
Co N P NP Ca
Treatment
p= 0.3

15. 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

16. Discussion
Hypotheses Outcome
N
P
N&P
Ca

17. 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?

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

19. 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.

20. 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