Persistence of local populations of the Roman snail (Helix pomatia L.) for 15 years in conditions of moderate and constant anthropogenic impact – A case study from Central Europe

Abstract

The Roman snail (Helix pomatia L.) has been exploited for food to the point where it has been subject to legal restrictions on its collection, and steps have been taken to monitor its distribution and abundance. There are, however, few cases where monitoring has involved the precise re-examination of accurately located populations, and these have confirmed persistence over periods of up to six years. Using a standard methodology, ten populations of H. pomatia near the town of Września (central Poland) first surveyed in 1999 were re-sampled in 2014. In all cases the snail populations had persisted, and the habitats had not altered significantly. These results indicate that in the absence of over-exploitation or habitat change populations of this species persist.