Introduction to the Succineid project

A grant entitled "Revision and phylogeographic analysis of Pacific Island succineid land snails" was awarded by the U.S. National Science Foundation to Robert H. Cowie (Principal Investigator) of the University of Hawaii, Manoa, and Marta deMaintenon (Co Principal Investigator) of the University of Hawaii, Hilo, in collaboration with Brenden S. Holland (Manoa), to work on the evolutionary biology of a major group of Pacific island land snails, the family Succineidae (NSF Grant No. DEB-0316308). The grant runs from 1 August 2003 to 31 July 2006 , but will probably be extended to 31 July 2007.

The main focus of the project is the succineid species of the Pacific islands, although it will necessarily involve Pacific Rim species and species from farther afield. The project will investigate the evolutionary diversification and geographic origins of the approximately 80 species that occur only on the islands of the Pacific and that are currently disappearing in the wake of habitat destruction and the depredations of alien species, and the routes via which, over evolutionary time, they have colonized these myriad islands. The project will also undertake a systematic revision of these species. Traditional analysis of anatomical variation among the different species of snails as well as modern DNA sequencing approaches and analytical methodologies are being used.

There are more scientifically described species of snails than of any other group of land animals except insects. Understanding the biology of this important component of biodiversity is therefore of basic significance in evolutionary biology, ecology, and conservation. Nowhere, in relation to land area does land snail diversity reach that in the tropical/subtropical Pacific. Although previous studies have investigated the origins and diversification of Pacific island plants and animals, primarily of Hawaii , almost no work on any group has addressed both their geographic origins and their routes of colonization throughout the Pacific. The project therefore has the potential to dramatically advance understanding of Pacific biodiversity and create a model of its overall origins and evolutionary diversification.