The effect of mowing and mulching on snail communities: an experiment in wet meadows

Abstract

The condition of wet meadows nowadays depends mainly on human activities; the biodiversity and productivity of these habitats can only be maintained through appropriate management methods. Mowing and grazing are well-known traditional methods, but a new method, regular mulching – the shredding of plant material and its deposition in the area – is becoming more widely practised. To better understand the impact of these methods we directly compared their effects on snails, an invertebrate taxon common in these habitats. We experimentally manipulated two wet meadows in Northern Hungary, Europe, and surveyed their snail communities immediately before and fourteen months after treatment. Our results showed that mowing had a detectable negative effect on the snail communities, whilst mulching did not alter their characteristics. Therefore, mulching may be a promising candidate for conservation management in wet meadow habitats.