Ecological Linkages Between Snails and Litters In Mount Gandang Dewata, West Sulawesi

Abstract

Mount Gandang Dewata in West Sulawesi was recently granted National Park status. Exploration of land snails in Taman Nasional Gandang Dewata (TNGD) has never been carried out. Therefore, a study of land snails in the National Park was conducted in April 2016 to examine the composition of land snails in different habitats, namely primary and secondary forests. Overall, 43 specimens (21 species from 8 families) were found from eight study sites. Snails are not found in steep areas, on moderate slopes 1-10 snails are found, and in flat areas 8-13 snails are found. The analysis was carried out by the principal components (PCA). According to the PCA, three groups of snails were formed. Environmental factors such as litter, altitude, humidity, calcium (Ca), nitrogen (N), and sodium (Na) are discussed in relation to snails. In this paper, litter factors are discussed in greater depth than other environmental factors. Snails and litter interact in an ecological relationship in the forest ecosystem of Mount Gandang Dewata.