Relationship Between Land Snails and Soil Physicochemical Properties in the Hyrcanian Forests in Northern Iran; A Conservational Approach in Biodiversity.

Forests serve as habitats for a diverse group of animals, with one of the significant animal groups being land snails. One of the influential factors in the distribution of snails are the physicochemical properties of soil. The aim of this study is to explore the relationship within the geographic expanse of the Hyrcanian forests located in northern Iran. This study examined six soil parameters, including pH, Ca, Mg, Ca⁺⁺, Mg⁺⁺, and soil saturation moisture content in the Hyrcanian forests of northern Iran. Identification of snails was conducted using DNA barcoding, and Canonical correlation analysis (CCA), was employed for analyzing the relationship between land snails' community and soil physicochemical factors. The analysis, determining the level of correlation between parameters, presents "eigenvalues" to illustrate how these variables are associated with the distribution of species in different locations. The samples belong to 10 OTUs. The PCA results suggest that three factors, namely Ca, Mg, and soil saturation moisture content, influence the snail fauna in the study area. CCA with eigenvalues of 0.374 and 0.202 for the first and second axes, respectively, also indicate a high correlation between these three parameters and most identified OTUs. These studies provide fundamental information to develop a biological indicator based on land snails in the Hyrcanian Forest. such indicators can be practical for developing management strategies for the conservation of snail fauna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]