Diversity, Abundance and Distribution of Gastropoda in a Tropical Agricultural Village in Kadavoor, Kerala, India

Abstract

Gastropods are an ecologically significant taxon which take part in crucial ecosystem services like nutrient cycling, food web, calcium cycle, pollination and seed dispersal. The gastropod diversity of Kadavoor village was studied for eight months in monoculture plantations of pineapple, rubber, banana, mixed crop agroecosystems, paddy fields and freshwater bodies. Random sampling was employed monthly in five quadrats of 1 * 1 square metre. A total of 14 species belonging to two subclasses, four orders and nine families were recorded. These  include land snails, freshwater snails, slugs and semislugs. Six out of 14 species recorded are endemic to the Indian subcontinent. Two invasive species namely Laevicaulis alte and Allopeas gracile were recorded. It is notable that Achatina fulica was not recorded during our study. Ariophantidae was the most abundant family followed by Subulinidae. The mixed crop agroecosystem was found to be more species-rich than monoculture plantations which might be due to an increase in microhabitats and leaf litter layer. The Simpson’s diversity index values are highest for the rubber plantation and lowest for the banana plantation since the species are more evenly distributed in the rubber plantation.  Mariaella dussumieri is a constant species in all three monoculture plantations since its constancy value is greater than 50%. Sorenson’s similarity index for species composition between monoculture ecosystems is high but variable. Microhabitats of snails in all these ecosystems were also recorded. The study is a first attempt at the gastropod diversity of agroecosystems in Kerala and would help in the conservation and management of the gastropods.