Population density affecting adult shell size of snail Cepaea nemoralis L

THOMAS et al. 1,2 have questioned the ability of molluscs to limit their population size by self inhibition at high densities. They suggest that plant metabolites may have caused the reduction in growth and fecundity of the aquatic snail Biomphalaria glabrata Say ascribed to crowding in previous stu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1976-10, Vol.263 (5577), p.496-497
Main Authors: WILLIAMSON, P, CAMERON, R. A. D, CARTER, M. A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Body Weight
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
multidisciplinary
Population Density
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Seasons
Snails - anatomy & histology
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Summary:THOMAS et al. 1,2 have questioned the ability of molluscs to limit their population size by self inhibition at high densities. They suggest that plant metabolites may have caused the reduction in growth and fecundity of the aquatic snail Biomphalaria glabrata Say ascribed to crowding in previous studies 3,4 . Field evidence for density-dependent regulation is limited. Yom-Tov 5 found that the fecundity of the desert snail Trochoidea seetzeni Pfeiffer was adversely affected by population density; he considered that either self-inhibition or nutritional differences were responsible. While studying the population dynamics and energetics of the land snail Cepaea nemoralis L., we have found evidence for density-dependent effects that cannot readily be explained by resource limitation. In samples of C. nemoralis collected in 1968 to study shell polymorphism (M. A. Palles-Clark, unpublished) a negative correlation was noticed between adult shell diameter and sample size ( r =−0.60, P
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/263496b0