Although its spread is often considered undesirable, scrub provides valuable habitat for a range of invertebrates, including the Roman snail, rufous grasshopper and the dark green fritillary.
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A colony of the Duke of Burgundy butterflies (Hamearis lucina) is present and other butterfly species associated with chalk flora include green hairstreak (Callophrys rubi), dingy skipper (Erynnis tages), dark green fritillary (Argynnis aglaja) and chalkhill blue (Lysandra coridon). The Roman snail (Helix pomatia), the largest snail species to be found in Britain, occurs here.
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Recorded are the pearl-bordered fritillary, silver-washed fritillary and comma, drawn by the open rides and glades. Molluscs recorded include the Roman snail and the great pellucid glass snail. The wood supports a number of wood ant nests. Some of these may be a good half a metre high and are scattered throughout the reserve.
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Helix pomatia, common names the Roman snail, Burgundy snail, edible snail or escargot, is a species of large, edible, air-breathing land snail, a pulmonate gastropod terrestrial mollusc in the family Helicidae. It is a European species. In the English language it is called by the French name escargot when used in cooking (escargot simply means 'snail'). Although this species is highly prized as a food, it is difficult to cultivate and rarely farmed commercially.
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The life span of snails in the wild is on average two or three years. Some snails may live longer, perhaps even 30 years or older in the case of the Roman snailThe Roman Snail, Helix pomatia but most live less than 8 years. Many deaths are due to predators and parasites. Since its publication in March 1974 issue of Natural History an estimate for the highest speed of garden snail equal to 0.03 mph (1.3 cm/s) became popular.
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Most species of land snail are annual, others are known to live 2 or 3 years, but some of the larger species may live over 10 years in the wild. For instance, 10-year old individuals of the Roman snail Helix pomatia are probably not uncommon in natural populations. Populations of some threatened species may be dependent on a pool of such long-lived adults. In captivity, the lifespan of snails can be much longer than in the wild, for instance up to 25 years in H. pomatia.
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In: Eur J Biochem. 267: 573-582 Dallinger has shown that in certain invertebrate animals (such as, for example, in terrestrial pulmonate snails), metal-selective metallothionein isoforms have evolved that are specifically dedicated to the metabolism of distinct metallic trace elements.Dallinger R., Berger B., Hunziker P.E., Kägi J.H.R. (1997) Metallothionein in snail Cd and Cu metabolism. In: Nature 388:237-238 The Roman snail (Helix pomatia), for example, possesses a copper-selective isoform involved in homeostatic regulation of copper, whereas a cadmium-specific isoform is responsible for the detoxification of this metal by binding it selectivelyDallinger R., Berger B., Gruber C., Hunziker P.E., Stürzenbaum S. (2000) Metallothioneins in Terrestrial Invertebrates: Structural Aspects, Biological Significance, and Implications for their Use as Biomarkers.
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In: Cell Mol Biology 46: 331-346 The genes of these isoforms can be upregulated differentially by metal exposure and non-metallic stressors, thus constituting an impressive example for the adaptive diversification of a gene family towards accomplishing trace element- specific physiological tasks.Egg M., Höckner M., Chabicovsky M., Brandstätter A., Schuler D., Dallinger R. (2009) Structural and bioinformatic analysis of the Roman snail Cd-Metallothionein gene uncovers molecular adaptation towards plasticity in coping with multifarious environmental stress. In: Mol Ecol 18: 2426-2443Palacios O., Pagani A., Pérez-Rafael S., Egg M., Höckner M., Brandstätter A., Capdevila M., Atrian S., Dallinger R. (2011) Shaping mechanisms of metal specificity in a family of metazoan metallothioneins: evolutionary differentiation of mollusc metallothioneins. In: BMC Biology 9: 1-20 Dallinger was also involved in the elucidation of the three-dimensional structure of a metallothionein with three Cadmium-binding domains from the intertidal periwinkle, Littorina littorea. Dallinger’s publications are characterized by a comparative and interdisciplinary approach with an integrative perspective, by addressing issues across different layers of biological organization.
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