Saving Norfolk Island's threatened snails

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-12-17 06:00

Australia; Pacific; NSW; ACT

JK Foon via iNaturalist - CC-BY-NC

Norfolk Island is home to a range of snail species, however many are currently listed as endangered or even extinct following land clearing and the introduction of invasive species. Since 2020, Australian researchers have been extensively surveying the island to learn more about the different species living on the island and how abundant they are, and during their surveys they've spotted two snails listed as extinct by the IUCN Red List as well as others not spotted in decades. The researchers have also been trying out various conservation strategies to figure out how to help bolster populations, such as captive breeding and 'exclosures' to keep predators out of their natural environment. The researchers say snail numbers have been relatively stable over the past 10 years, and over the three years of the study their numbers have increased.

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Journal/
conference: PLOS ONE

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Australian Museum, Western Sydney University

Funder: Australian Museum Foundation. IH, FK. No grant number. https://australian.museum/getinvolved/ join/foundation/ The funders did not play any role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. National Geographic Society. IH, FK, MVS, BF, MW. Grant number NGS-83822C-21. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/society/

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