Habitats of relict terrestrial snails in southern Siberia: lessons for the reconstruction of palaeoenvironments of full-glacial Europe

Terrestrial snail assemblages, vegetation composition and selected environmental variables were recorded at 118 sites along a gradient of climatic continentality in the Russian Altai. Seven of the eight species that are typical of central European full-glacial loess sediments were found in the study...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Biogeography
Main Authors: Horsák, M., Chytrý, M., Pokryszko, B. M., Danihelka, J. (Jiří), Ermakov, B. V., Hájek, M. (Michal), Hájková, P. (Petra), Kintrová, K., Kočí, M., Kubešová, S., Lustyk, P., Otýpková, Z., Pelánková, B. (Barbora), Valachovič, M.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2010
Subjects:
Altai Mountains
climate
Gastropoda
Tundra
Siberia
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2010.02280.x
http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0188759
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Summary:Terrestrial snail assemblages, vegetation composition and selected environmental variables were recorded at 118 sites along a gradient of climatic continentality in the Russian Altai. Seven of the eight species that are typical of central European full-glacial loess sediments were found in the study area. They were confined to cool areas with January mean temperatures below -17 degrees, but occurred mainly in sheltered habitats with a warmer microclimate, such as scrub or open woodland. Pupilla loessica and Vallonia tenuilabris had the broadest habitat range, occurring from woodland to dry steppe. Unexpectedly, Columella columella, Pupilla alpicola, Vertigo genesii, V. parcedentata and V. pseudosubstriata were found mainly in wooded fens and shrubby tundra rather than in open steppe. Most of these seven species were recorded in base-rich wooded fens.

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