Meeting Abstract

P3.59  Sunday, Jan. 6  Changes in Molluscan fauna due to succession �\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\” 1940s to present DAVIS-BERG, E. C.; Columbia College Chicago edavisberg@colum.edu

Long-term successional changes were assessed for the native molluscan fauna in a re-established forest ecosystem. In 1948, the Fitch Natural History Reservation located in Douglas County, Kansas northeast of Lawrence. Prior to the foundation of the Reserve one year earlier, the non-forested areas were heavily cultivated or grazed. In the late 1940s and 1950s, numerous surveys of molluscan fauna were performed. It has since been allowed to undergo natural succession, returning to a primarily forested ecosystem. This area was extensively surveyed for molluscan fauna in the late 1940s through the 1950s. These surveys have provided a species list by location along with information on the local ecology at the time. To assess changes in the molluscan fauna due to succession and time, I have sampled three sites; two terrestrial and one aquatic at the University of Kansas Fitch Natural History Reservation, over the years 2004 – 2007. All sites were identified with GPS coordinates and were of different habitats to better sample the diversity of mollusks found in the areas. These results allow us to see how the molluscan fauna has changed and stayed the same on this Reservation over the last 50 – 60 years. We are able to document changes in the species composition from the original surveys including the presence of species which are new to Reservation.