Assistant Professor Auburn University at Montgomery, Alabama, United States
Understanding the factors that influence species diversity is at the heart of conservation biodiversity and securing healthy, well-functioning ecosystems. One factor that can affect species diversity is the preference of herbivores feeding on specific plant species in the ecosystem. In forest ecosystems, the effects of deer on plant diversity are well-studied. However, the impact of snails is often overlooked. Snails are similar to deer generalist herbivores that feed on multiple plant species. We hypothesize that snails are selective about which plant species they prefer to eat and that selective feeding preferences determine which plant seedlings can establish in an ecosystem. We work with terrestrial snails native to AL ecosystems and we use lab feeding experiments to test if snail feeding preferences differ among native and non-native tree species common to AL forests. Our results indicate that snail feeding preferences are not easily categorized by the native or non-native origin of the plant species. Instead, plant traits such as leaf nitrogen content, leaf stiffness are more important in driving feeding preferences of snails. We show that even though snails are generalist herbivores they do express feeding preferences for specific plant species and by suppressing their preferred food plants, they contribute to maintaining species diversity of tree species.
