Tiny Survivors in a Changing Climate: Modelling the Future Distribution of Vallonia (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Valloniidae) Snails in India
摘要
The knowledge of accurate species distribution is a preliminary stage towards conservation in the current climate and land-use change scenario. It provides a preliminary understanding of the habitat and climate suitability of the species. However, in the modern scientific context, we can integrate various environmental, climatic, and anthropogenic factors with current species distribution data to accurately determine the suitable habitats for species occurrence and distribution. However, because of adequate data on species occurrences and distribution, the lesser invertebrates have attracted minimal attention on conservation (especially land snails) compared to vertebrates. The distribution of terrestrial molluscs, especially tiny snails such as Vallonia sp., Alycaeus sp., and Diplomatina sp., remains inadequately known due to their small size and the lack of sufficient ecological data. In this study, the possibility of the habitat of three species Vallonia pulchella, Vallonia ladacensis, and Vallonia costata are performed in relation to the climatic variable, human occurrence, and anthropogenic activities has been concluded by using maximum entropy modelling. The species distribution model results reveal a clear dependence of these species on climatic factors compared to other environmental variables. Notably, the endemic species Vallonia ladacensis shows a strong association with the mean diurnal temperature range. This chapter provides new insights into the distributional range and climatic requirements of these species, contributing to future climate change research, interspecific variation, and aiding in the formulation of effective management plans to limiting them before they become vermin.