Does the planet need snails?

CrowdScience

BBC

Science

4.8 • 985 Ratings

🗓️ 8 October 2021

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Snails are a major enemy of gardeners around the world, invading vegetable patches and gobbling prize plants. CrowdScience listener Alexandre reckons he’s removed thousands of them from his garden, which got him wondering: apart from eating his garden to the core, what’s their wider role in nature? Would anyone or anything miss them if they suddenly disappeared?

And for that matter, what about other creatures? We all know how complex biodiversity is, but it seems that some animals are more important than others in maintaining the balance of life on earth. Is there anything that could go extinct without having knock-on effects?

CrowdScience heads to the Hawaiian mountains, a snail diversity hotspot, to discover the deep value of snails to native ecosystems there. Researchers and conservationists are working together to protect these highly endangered snails, and their natural habitats, from multiple threats.

We hear why all snails – even the ones munching Alexandre’s petunias – have their role to play in the natural world, and get to grips with cascading extinctions: how the loss of a single species can trigger unpredictable effects on a whole ecosystem.

With contributions from Imogen Cavadino, Dr Norine Yeung, Dr Kenneth Hayes, Dr David Sischo, Jan Kealoha, and Professor Ian Donohue.

Presented by Marnie Chesterton Produced by Cathy Edwards for the BBC World Service

[Image credit: Getty Images]

Transcript

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0:00.0	Take some time for yourself with soothing classical music from the mindful mix, the Science of
0:07.0	Happiness Podcast.
0:08.0	For the last 20 years I've dedicated my career to exploring the science of living a happier more meaningful life and I want
0:14.4	to share that science with you.
0:16.1	And just one thing, deep calm with Michael Mosley.
0:19.4	I want to help you tap in to your hidden relaxation response system and open the door to that
0:25.5	calmer place within. Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:32.2	We tend to have a few here, so there's a really tiny one there. There's one here, one there, and then on the trunk there, there's one here, there, another one here, here. This is crowd science. the show that answers your pressing science
0:47.0	the show that answers your pressing science questions.
0:50.0	Meet listener Alexander, who's's showing around his garden where the main crop he seems to be growing are snails.
0:59.0	I've collected I think around 2,000 snails in total.
1:04.0	Every time it rains, they all seem to come out,
1:06.2	it's like, where were you hiding?
1:08.2	I picked up everything and there are more.
1:11.2	They just seem to keep coming.
1:13.0	I'm Marnie Chesterton and my tiny meter of garden also has a snail problem.
1:19.0	It feels good to commiserate with a fellow sufferer.
1:22.0	On top of the rocks, it was completely covered with flowers. In a
1:26.2	week everything disappeared they ate all the flowers, all the leaves and all the
1:32.1	stalks so you just got these tiny white stumps left.
1:35.0	All gone.
1:36.0	Presumably you didn't just get in touch to compare notes on snail damage.
	...

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