Terrestrial snails in flood deposits of the Beskid Mały range (Carpathians, southern Poland)

Abstract

Long-term research on the malacofauna of the Beskid Mały, one of the ranges of the Western Beskidy Mts, was based on flood deposits of the streams cutting through the massif. Samples from limestone areas (called Andrychów Klippes) and those from the Żurawnica massif complemented the material. The total of ca. 400 samples yielded 78 species of terrestrial snails. The malacofauna was characterised in terms of its ecological and zoogeographical composition. The material provided the basis for determining the zones of occurrence and distribution of the component taxa within the Beskid Mały range. The ecological, zoogeographical and species diversity of the assemblages made it possible to distinguish four types of fauna, each connected with certain parts of the Beskid Mały range, which differ in their geological structure, relief and the degree of anthropogenic transformations.