Spatial structure of a gastropod community in the litter of a beech forest of dentario glandulosae fagetum in the Tatra Mountains
The grid method was used in the present study of the spatial structure of a gastropod community. 2,474 specimens representing 29 species were collected from an area of 9 sq m. The numbers of species were higher in squares with higher densities of snails (rNS 0.9) Species diversity varied between the squares, ranging from about 2.6 to 4.1, and was not very closely correlated with increase in species number (rSH 0.6) Snail density was not correlated with average dry litter weight in a square (rNM 0.03) The values of the indices of Lexis and of Morista show that the distribution of snails in the studied forest patches was aggregated. The material suggests an obvious relation between snails and plants. key WordS: Gastropoda, mountain malacofauna, snail community structure, species composition, abundance, dominance, ecological parameters Folia Malacologica 3/1989 was originally published as No. 1216 of Scientific Bulletins of University of Mining and Metallurgy, Cracow. This digitalised version was prepared by the Association of Polish Malacologists and first published on line on December 30th, 2016. http:/dx.doi.org/10.12657/folmal.003.004 Folia Malacol. 3: 55 72