R code and data for "Terrestrial gastropod species-specific responses to forest management: implications for Parelaphostrongylus tenuis transmission to moose"

• Main Authors: Severud, William J, Petz Gigure, Matt, Walters, Tyler, Garwood, Tyler J., Teager, Kim, Marchetto, Katherine M., Oliveira-Santos, L. Gustavo R., Moore, Seth A., Wolf, Tiffany M.
• Other Authors: Severud, William, [e-mail]
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Alces alces; gastropod; Grand Portage Indian Reservation; intermediate host; Minnesota; Parelaphostrongylus tenuis; understory treatment; Indian; Portage Indian
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/11299/250152; https://doi.org/10.13020/dhhw-cy54

Terrestrial gastropod survey sampling data with paired environmental data, along with code to reproduce analyses in the cited paper. Landscape management can influence the distribution, abundance, and diversity of the terrestrial gastropods that host known parasites of managed species of ungulates. Multiple taxa of terrestrial gastropods are important intermediate hosts in the lifecycle of the parasitic nematode Parelaphostrongylus tenuis, for which white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are definitive hosts. Moose (Alces alces) become infected with P. tenuis when they incidentally ingest gastropod intermediate hosts, leading to morbidity and mortality. Populations of moose in Minnesota have declined and P. tenuis infection has been identified as a leading cause of mortality. We investigated the role of forest management disturbance on the terrestrial gastropod community, and specifically known intermediate host species of P. tenuis, on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation in northeastern Minnesota, USA, where moose are an important subsistence species to the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Field crews surveyed gastropods through timed searches of soil and litter, and opportunistic collections from browse and pellets of white-tailed deer and moose. We digested all identified gastropods to determine prevalence of P. tenuis infection. We examined gastropod community responses to management and forest cover type using multivariate regressions. We additionally used regressions to examine total gastropod richness and abundance, as well as P. tenuis intermediate host responses to cover type, soil moisture class, canopy cover, treatment, and years since treatment. Digestions detected no infected gastropods from the 621 identified specimens. Gastropod community assemblages differed with recent understory treatment, but no other predictors. Total gastropod abundance, richness, and host abundance (liberal definition, including Deroceras spp.) were lower in sites treated within the last five years. For ...