INVESTIGATIONS ON TERRESTRIAL SNAILS FROM THE UNIVERSITY BOTANICAL GARDEN OF BALCHIK DURING STUDENT VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES
LINA PAUNOVA1*, DIMITAR NENOV1,2, YANA YORDANOVA1,2, DIMITAR DIMITROV1,2, MARINA YORDANOVA1, DANIELA GEORGIEVA1,2, ADELINA SAVOVA1, KIRIL VALKANOV1,2, ATANAS GROZDANOV1,2
1 Students Club for Education and Development with Ecological Centre
2 Department of Zoology and anthropology, Faculty of Biology, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria
*Corresponding author: skorecbf@gmail.com
Keywords: terrestrial snails, conservation, student activities
Abstract: The present research continues the investigations on the terrestrial gastropods diversity in the Sofia University Botanical Garden in Balchik and was made during the annual volunteer activities in the area. As a result of the current work 22 species of terrestrial snails were found, 7of which were present in the previous researches, with the most common species being Mentissella rebeli, Helix lucorum, and Pomatias elegans. In comparison with the study from 2016, 15 new research locations were added and 15 new species were identified for the area. We investigated a variety of habitats in the garden’s territory, characterized by different vegetation and gardening regimes. The material was gathered by hand and from collected soil probes. No snails were found in parts of the garden that were exposed to a variety of gardening practices, including pesticide treatment.
The University botanical garden in Balchik holds a significant biodiversity, due to its geographical position and diverse vegetation and also plays an important educational function for the biology students. This theory is confirmed also by the present research, which should be used to encourage such scientific and educational activities in the future.