The efficiency of landscape management on selected thermophilous land snails - a small-scale case report from the vineyard area in northern Vienna

Abstract

Direct implications of landscape management measures, such as clearing and grubbing, on snails are only sparsely published. Thus the impact of management on two xerothermophilous terrestrial gastropod species, Zebrina detrita and Caucasotachea vindobonensis, and on land snails in general, was evaluated in the vineyard area of northern Vienna. This area belongs to the buffer zone of UNESCO Wienerwald Biosphere Reserve in Austria. A total of 18 sites were investigated, including vineyard embankments and dry meadows with different intensity levels of clearing and grubbing in recent years. Occurrence of both target species and their ability to recolonize newly created habitats were assessed. Snails are able to colonize new areas in direct vicinity of existing populations that are above detection level. Only annually repeated clearing of meadows and embankments with originally strong shrub coverage resulted in a visible effect. Continuous clearing efforts over 10 years were associated with a dense population of Z. detrita on a formerly unsuited bush-covered meadow. In contrast, vineyard embankments that were cut free just once within two years before the study harboured only a few specimens of Z. detrita. Also the former occurrence of empty shells of grassland species should be taken into consideration when planning landscape management, because they can provide information on the potential success of restoring open grassland.