page_title: Chittenango ovate amber snail
section_title: Population size
hierarchical_section_title: Chittenango ovate amber snail / Population size
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of a snail Novisuccinea chittenangoensis, that is marked with a number for monitoring the population.
context_page_description: The Chittenango ovate amber snail, scientific name Novisuccinea chittenangoensis, is a species of small air-breathing land snail in the family Succineidae, the amber snails. This species was discovered in 1905, and was reported three years later as a subspecies of the oval ambersnail, Succinea ovalis. Several taxonomic reviews took place in the subsequent decades until the end of the 1980s, when the Chittenango ovate amber snail was finally judged to be a distinct species Novisuccinea chittenangoensis, based on chemical and morphological data.
  The Chittenango ovate amber snail is endemic to the Chittenango area of Madison County, New York, United States. There is only one population of this species at Chittenango Falls State Park in central New York, even though it was believed to have a broader range previously; based on fossil records, some authors argue that the distribution of this species may have been much wider in the past. In opposition to this, other authors argue that it is impossible to identify this species based on fossil records, because they only allow for examination of shell features.
context_section_description: Accurate population trends are not available for this species. The species was supposedly found "in great abundance" when a field party collected it in 1905, but was not surveyed again until 1954, when Hubricht found it in "equal abundance" with Novisuccinea ovalis. Grimm found Novisuccinea ovalis more abundant than Novisuccinea chittenangoensis during field surveys in 1964, 1965, and 1973. In 1972, Grimm estimated the total Novisuccinea chittenangoensis population at less than 200, but Solem estimated it at about 500 in 1974. Three investigators spent two hours searching the habitat in 1973 and located only 13 specimens; a trip later that summer yielded none. Surveys by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Endangered Species Unit (beginning in 1976) generally uncovered only a few shells or living animals during annual trips, although an intensive search in July 1981, with Grimm's assistance, yielded 18 live individuals.
  Past surveys are suspect, as Grimm (1981) and Hubricht (1985) no longer believe that Novisuccinea ovalis even occurs in Novisuccinea chittenangoensis habitat at Chittenango Falls. They surmise, rather, that earlier reported specimens of Novisuccinea ovalis were instead immature Novisuccinea chittenangoensis. However, a review of photographic records showed shells of Novisuccinea ovalis that were collected at the Falls when the type specimens of Novisuccinea chittenangoensis were collected. Apparently, Novisuccinea ovalis occurred at or near the Falls historically but is no longer encountered there or is only located in adjacent habitats. Therefore, relative comparisons between the two species' abundance is problematic and confusing.
  During the summer of 1982, Aloi and Ringler conducted a mark and recapture study in the patch of watercress where the snails appeared most densely. Using two methods (Jolly and Schnabel) and two models, they estimated a population of about 300 snails with a density of four snails per square meter of watercress habitat. These snails have subsequently been identified as Succinea sp. B, not Novisuccinea chittenangoensis. A 1983 collection of 83 snails for use in electrophoretic studies resulted in removal of 24 Novisuccinea chittenangoensis from the population; unfortunately, their identity was not verified at the time of collection, on top of which Novisuccinea chittenangoensis was thought to be more abundant than it actually was. The population of Succinea sp. B expanded rapidly to an estimate of more than 3,000 snails in 1984, whereas counts of Novisuccinea chittenangoensis in 1984 indicated the presence of approximately 100 adults. Counts of live Novisuccinea chittenangoensis from 1995 to 2001 yielded an average of five adults per survey with a high of 12 adults in 2001. and post-reproductive shell counts made at the end of each activity season from 1987 to 2001 generally identified 4 to 20 Novisuccinea chittenangoensis adults. Subsequent studies have shown that Succinea sp. B outnumbers Novisuccinea chittenangoensis by as much as 10 to 1 in the primary habitat areas.
  In 2002, the NYSDEC, ESF, and the USFWS increased the survey effort and conducted a mark-release-recapture study at the Falls. Sixteen surveys were conducted during the study period between July and October 2002. The final population estimate using the Schumacher-Eschmeyer method
  was 183 individuals (95 percent C.I.: 145–222 individuals). Population size was also estimated on the basis of capture frequencies, with a final estimate of 206 individuals. Due to differences in survey intensity and questionable species identifications in years past, the validity and comparability of survey data over the 20-year period do not provide a sound basis for any accurate status statement. The protocol for the mark-release-recapture study was modified slightly and continued in 2003, 2004, and 2005. The Novisuccinea chittenangoensis population was estimated to be 178 in 2003 and 680 in 2004. Preliminary 2005 survey results show a population slightly larger than the 2004 estimate.
  In addition to the wild 
caption: A biologist is marking a snail to aid in the process of monitoring the population.
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