Analysis of the spatial distribution of the ecological niche of the land snail Brephulopsis cylindrica (Stylommatophora, Enidae) in technosols
Analysis of the spatial distribution of the ecological niche of the land snail Brephulopsis cylindrica (Stylommatophora, Enidae) in technosols

Summary/Abstract: The aim of our work is to describe the ecological niche of the land snail Brephulopsis cylindrica (Menke, 1828) in terms of the edaphic properties and properties of the vegetation cover and to show the spatial features of the variation of the habitat preference index within the artificial soil body – technosols (soddy-lithogenic soils on loess-like clays) using the ecological niche factor analysis (ENFA). The research was carried out at the Research Centre of the Dnipro Agrarian and Economic University in Pokrov. Sampling was carried out on a variant of artificial soil (technozems) formed on loess-like clays. The test site where the sampling was conducted consists of 7 transects of 15 samples each. Test points form a regular grid with a mesh size of 3 m. Soil mechanical impedance, aggregate-size distribution, soil electrical conductivity, vegetation physiognomic characteristics, and Didukh phytoindication scales were used as ecogeographic predictors of the mollusc’s ecological niche properties. Phytoindication assessment indicates that the technosol ecological regimes are favourable for sub-mesophytes, hemi-hydrocontrastophiles, neutrophiles, semieutrophs. The test for statistical significance showed that an axis of marginality of the ecological niche of B. cylindrica and axes of specialization are significantly different from the random distribution.

• Details
• Contents