Contributions of the study of continental Mediterranean Holocene fossil mollusc assemblages to the conservation of an endangered group - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2023

Contributions of the study of continental Mediterranean Holocene fossil mollusc assemblages to the conservation of an endangered group

Résumé

In Quaternary studies, fossil land shells are usually studied to investigate past environments and climates across various spatial and temporal scales. Over the last ten years, new molluscan successions from northeastern Morocco and southern Spain have revealed a high diversity of land snail assemblages during the Holocene. Nowadays, the highly anthropized Mediterranean Basin is considered one of the most sensitive areas to landscape and biodiversity modification due to climate changes driven by human activities. As one of the most threatened invertebrate groups, many Mediterranean land snail species require major conservation measures to ensure their survival. On the basis of new Moroccan and Spanish sequences (Aït Said ou Idder; Blirh; Oued Charef, Galera) and a review of the existing paleomalacology literature, we discuss the significance of Holocene molluscan records from a perspective of paleobiology conservation. Most of the sequences provide records from the Middle Holocene (8200 – 4200 Before Present) consisting of a rich hygrophile fauna as common components. V. moulinsiana and V. angustior, both protected species under the European Directive, occur regularly. V. enniensis is common in several Holocene sites, but has a current distribution limited in Spain and is unknown living in Morocco. Likewise, the occurrence of the endemic O. aragonica at Galera and Baides shows that this species had much larger populations and a wider distribution during the Holocene which support its endangered species status Middle Holocene molluscan successions provide an historical perspective of the occurrence of hygrophilous species before aridification and increased human impact led to the disturbance and fragmentation of wetland habitats. Molluscan fossil records are an ideal temporal tool to better understand the parameters that have shaped today's biodiversity and to identify the most vulnerable taxa.
Fichier non déposé

Dates et versions

hal-04385365 , version 1 (10-01-2024)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-04385365 , version 1

Citer

Quentin Wackenheim, Nicole Limondin-Lozouet. Contributions of the study of continental Mediterranean Holocene fossil mollusc assemblages to the conservation of an endangered group. XXI INQUA Congress, Jul 2023, Rome, Italy. ⟨hal-04385365⟩
3 Consultations
0 Téléchargements

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More