Ecology: Concepts and Applications 4th Edition by Manual Molles

Exercise 5

The Applications section reviews how the studies of Bruno Baur and Anette Baur (1993) have documented the local extinction of the land snail Arianta arbustorum. Their research also shows that these extinctions may be due to reduced egg hatching at higher temperatures. Do these results show conclusively that the direct effect of higher temperatures on hatching success is responsible for the local extinctions of A. arbustorum? Propose and justify alternative hypotheses. Be sure you take into account all of the observations of the Baurs.