Occurrence of the invasive Spanish slug in gardens: can a citizen science approach help deciphering underlying factors?

ABSTRACT:

Background

The Spanish slug (Arion vulgaris, also known as A. lusitanicus) is considered one of the most invasive species in agriculture, horticulture and private gardens all over Europe. Although this slug has been problematic for decades, there is still not much known about its occurrence across private gardens and the underlying meteorological and ecological factors. One reason for this knowledge gap is the limited access of researchers to private gardens. Here we used a citizen science approach to overcome this obstacle and examined whether the occurrence of Arionidae in Austrian gardens was associated with meteorological (air temperature, precipitation, global solar radiation, relative humidity) or ecological factors (plant diversity, earthworm activity). Occurrence of the inv

SUBMITTER: Dorler D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6071400 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature