Effect of Regional Geologic Chemistry on Arid Snail Shell Types
Additional Funding Sources
This project was made possible by the NSF Idaho EPSCoR Program and by the National Science Foundation under Award No. OIA-1757324.
Abstract
The link between resource distribution and adaptation in response to temporal changes such as redistribution of resources due to industry or climate change is an important concept to understand for conservation scientists. This study explores relationships between the distribution of arid land snail populations and local geology and soil compositions. Calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron and aluminum in both rocks and soils correlate with variation in snail populations. We sampled the rocks, soil and snails in the steeply-dipping layer of metamorphosed Paleozoic-Mesozoic rock located in a semi-arid regions of Wet-Gulch and analyzed their chemistry to determine if the regional geology influences the adaptation of a local arid snail species.
Effect of Regional Geologic Chemistry on Arid Snail Shell Types
The link between resource distribution and adaptation in response to temporal changes such as redistribution of resources due to industry or climate change is an important concept to understand for conservation scientists. This study explores relationships between the distribution of arid land snail populations and local geology and soil compositions. Calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron and aluminum in both rocks and soils correlate with variation in snail populations. We sampled the rocks, soil and snails in the steeply-dipping layer of metamorphosed Paleozoic-Mesozoic rock located in a semi-arid regions of Wet-Gulch and analyzed their chemistry to determine if the regional geology influences the adaptation of a local arid snail species.