Beta diversity patterns and species-environment relationships of aquatic gastropods (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from an urban region in central India
Kolhe, B.G.; Naik, R.D.; Anantharam, A.N.; Padhye, S.M. (2025). Beta diversity patterns and species-environment relationships of aquatic gastropods (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from an urban region in central India. Biologia 80(6): 1425-1434. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11756-025-01907-6
In: Biologia. Springer: Bratislava. ISSN 0006-3088; e-ISSN 1336-9563, more
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| Authors | | Top |
- Kolhe, B.G.
- Naik, R.D.
- Anantharam, A.N.
- Padhye, S.M.
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| Abstract |
Limited reliable ecological information exists on freshwater gastropods from (sub) tropical India even though these animals are an important part of freshwater ecosystems. Our study focused on studying the species-environment relationships and beta diversity patterns of these animals from a region in the peninsular (sub) tropical India. We collected freshwater gastropods from 19 distinct localities along with environmental data for one year, covering two distinct seasons and various types of water bodies. We found seven caenogastropod and four pulmonate species in our collections, the latter being relatively more common than the former. Beta diversity partitioning revealed only a slight difference between the species replacement and richness difference components, with replacement having a higher value. This implied the role of environmental species sorting and/or the limited dispersal capacity seen in these animals. Canonical correspondence analysis revealed dissolved oxygen and the presence of aquatic vegetation as important variables in explaining the local species distribution patterns, with all species favoring the presence of vegetation. Most species occurred within a high dissolved oxygen range except Pila saxea, a species restricted to non-polluted streams and Idiopoma dissimilis, a rare species in the collection. Distribution patterns of some species could not be resolved properly based on the available environmental data. Despite the constraints of a geographically restricted dataset, our study provides baseline ecological information of freshwater gastropods from a completely new study area laying a foundation for future research activities. |
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