Movement and microhabitat use of intertidal snails during active summer months

Understanding how animals move provides insight into biological interactions between trophic levels, behavioural ecology of species, population dynamics, and biodiversity conservation in a changing climate. Habitat selection is a way for snails to avoid predators and unsuitable environmental conditions, locate food, and find mates. Using radio frequency identification technology we determined: 1) if snail motility was affected by a passive integrated transponder tag, 2) the extent of snail dispersal, daily distance travelled, and directionality over the active summer period, 3) the frequency in which intertidal gastropods Nucella lamellosa, a predator, and Lirabuccinum dirum, a scavenger, use different microhabitats at low tide, 4) if snail movement or use of sheltered microhabitats was affected by tidal amplitude, daily maximum air temperature, or precipitation, and 5) if body condition was sacrificed for movement. Nucella lamellosa and Lirabuccinum dirum differed significantly in their dispersal, directionality, microhabitat use, and exposure at low tide, but did not differ in their daily distance travelled. Snail movement and exposure were not influenced by tidal amplitude, maximum daily air temperature, or total daily precipitation. Daily distance travelled did not impact snail growth over the summer, but there was a positive relationship between L. dirum dispersal and growth. This study found that N. lamellosa and L. dirum have inherently different patterns of movement and microhabitat use, perhaps due to differences in food source, but likely due to a combination of abiotic and biotic interactions.