Land Snails of Selected Rare High Elevation Forests and Heath Balds of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Dourson DC and Langdon K. 2012. Land Snails of Selected Rare High Elevation Forests and Heath Balds of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Journal of the North Carolina Academy of Science. 128(2):27-32
ABSTRACT: Selected high elevation forests and heath balds of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) between Newfound Gap and Thunderhead Mountain were comprehensively sampled for the first time. Thirty-three species including one new species Fumonelix langdoni (Dourson) were documented occurring at elevations between 1,372 m to 2,012 m. Two previous land snail inventories in the park by Thompson (1981) and Dourson (2005) added sixteen species, bringing the total land snail fauna to forty nine species living above 1,372 m within park boundaries. Overall species richness declines with elevation yet numbers of snails appear to change little with increasing altitude. Heath balds were comparably rich sites for gastropods, Vitrinizonites latissimus (Lewis) being the most frequently observed land snail. Mesodon altivagus, (Pilsbry) and Fumonelix jonesiana (Archer) both documented during the survey are of global importance, a result of an exceptionally restricted range within the park. One ambiguous species in the genus Fumonelix (Polygyridae) is discussed and likely represents new taxa. Appalachina chilhoweensis (J. Lewis) was found at 1,666 m, representing the highest elevation the species has been documented to date.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Dourson, Daniel; Langdon, Keith
- Units
- GRSM
- Keywords
- APHN, Appalachian Highlands Network, biodiversity, gastropoda, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, GRSM, GRSM-00423, heath balds, high elevations, land snails, Mollusca, new species, SER, Southeast Region, spruce-fir forest, taxonomy