Temporal variation in climatic factors influences phenotypic diversity of Trochulus land snails.

ABSTRACT: Organisms with limited dispersal capabilities should show phenotypic plasticity in situ to keep pace with environmental changes. Therefore, to study the influence of environmental variation on the phenotypic diversity, we chose land snails, Trochulus hispidus and T. sericeus, characterized by high population variability. We performed long-term field studies as well as laboratory and common garden experiments, which revealed that temporal environmental changes generate visible variation in shell size and shape of these snails. Many shell measurements of T. hispidus varied significantly with temperature and humidity in individual years. According to this, the first generation of T. hispidus, bred in controlled laboratory conditions, became significantly different in higher spire and narrower

SUBMITTER: Prockow M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9296580 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature