AWSKA HELIX LUTESCENS ROSSMASSLER , 1887 ( GASTROPODA : HELICIDAE ) IN THE HOL V CROSS MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK

The author recorded the occurrence of Helix lutescens Rossmässler, 1837 on five localities within the Holy Cross Mountains National Park and its protective zone, and on three localities in the city of Kielce. The presence of H. lutescens on the eight localities does not permit to establish its real origin, though the author suggests that in those particular habitats the species may be a postglacial or Late Holocene relict. key WordS: Świętokrzyski National Park, malacofauna, new localities Folia Malacologica 3/1989 was originally published as No. 1216 of Scientific Bulletins of University of Mining and Metallurgy, Cracow. This digitalised version was prepared by the Association of Polish Malacologists and first published on-line on December 30th, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.12657/folmal.003.002 Folia Malacol. 3: 23–32


INTRODUCTION
Helix lutescens Rossmassler, 1837 is a South-Eastern European species.Its distribution range covers South-Eastern Polan~ Western Ukraine, Romania, and the east of Hungary and Czechoslovakia (Karney, Cameron and Jungbluth 1983).In Poland the north border of its distribution range covers the northern margin of the Little Poland Upland and Lublin Upland (Poli~ ski 1924 and Urba~ski 1964).
The localities recorded from the area of the Holy Cross Mountains are as follows: Psie G6rki near Kielce 8zinek near Skartysko, Korytnica near J~drzej6w (Poli~ski 1917(Poli~ski , 1924)), G6ra Wietrznia near Kielce (Czubi~ski and Urba~ski 1933), hot and dry hills between Pi~cz6w and Skowronne (Urbartski 1937), an old cementary in Kielce (Urba~ski 1964) (Fig. 1).The fact, that in spite of his thorough studies carried out in the Holy Cross Mountains, Piechocki (1981) did not found H. lutescens, suggests that the species is scarce in the region.
The specimes of H. lutescens, the present paper deals with (Fig. 3), had roundish shells 27 -34 mm high and 28 -35 mm broad.They were characteristic in a covered umbilicus, oval mouth -its height greater than its bredath -and a white or pinkish lip.The shells were slightly glossy or mat, mostly unicolour (whitish yellow), but some of them having five darker streaks; the shell striation quite distinct.Shells of living specimens were yellowish brown near the mouths .substrata of the area of the localities consists mostly of quartzite, sandstone, greywac~e and non-calcareous shale.The soil of the area is prevailingly barren and humid.In the valleys the soil is sandy, sandy-gravel and loamy with patches of loess.
The warmest area of the studied region comprises its western and south--eastern parts as well as the vicinity of the town of Nowa Slupia.In the Ch~ciny subregion the main elements of climate are as follows: mean annual air temperature: 7.2 -7.4"C, mean air temperature in January: -3.0 -2.2"C, mean air temperature in July: 17.9-18 .2"C, number of sunny days per year: 35 -42, number of cloudy days per year: 97 -142, snow cover per year: 60 -84 days, total annual rainfall: 600 -650 mm.The remaining regions of the area are colder (Kozlowska-Szcz~sna and Paszy~ski 1967).
The corresponding values for Nowa Slupia in the lysog6ry Range are as follows: mean annual air temperature: 7.7'C, mean air temperature in January: -3.7"C, mean air temperature in July: 16.8"C, number of sunny days per year: 54.2, number of cloudy daysper year: 134, snow cover per year: 82 days, total annual rainfall: 840 mm (Ounikowski manuscript).According to data obtained from the station of the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management at Bodzentyn (the similar station at Nowa Slupia was liquidated) in 1986 the mean annual temperature was 6.9"C, annual rainfall: 557 mm, mean temperature in J~nuary: -1.7"C, mean temperature in July: 16.8"C, snowfall in January: 54 mm, rainfall in July: 91 mm.

NEW LOCALITIES AND THEIR MALACOFAUNA L o c a 1 i t y I :
The tysa G6ra Mountain, northern slope near Nowa Slupia; position OB 93 in UTM system, altitude 400 m a.s.l.The substrata comp~ises sandstone and quartzite with intercalatfons of Upper Cambrian mudstone.The slope is overgrown with a fir forest with an admixture of Fagus silvatica L., Acer pseudoplatanus L., Tilia cordate Mill., Quercus ~ L., Fraxinus sp., Ulmus campestris L. The ground cover consists of the following ~pecies: Oentaria glandulosa W. K., .D. Anneaphyllos L., ..Ai.perula odorata L., Asarym eyropaeum L., and Allium ursinum L. occurring at humid places (Wolak manuscript).

L o c a 1 i t y I I
Baszow.&.ce, a calcareous slope by the Pokrzywianka stream; position EB 03 ~n UTM system, altitude 265 m a.s.l.The substrata contains Quaternary silt and sand with lenses of the peat of the higher flood plain.The slope is overgrown with epili thic turf and numerous shrubs of Berberis vulgaris L., Juniperus communis L., and Cotgneaster melanocarpa Lodd.Sunny places are overgrown with xerophiles as: Campanula sibirica L., lrifol-~um montanum L., Helianthemum ovatum (Viv.)Dun., Scabiosa ochroleuca L., Fragaria viridis Ouch., Veronica spicata L., and Filipendula hexapetala Gilib.
L o c a 1 it y I I I: Gdra Chelmowa; position EB 03 in UTM system, altitude 325 m a.s.l.The substrata contains Lower Devonian sandstone.This is a hill situated withfn the loess fields of the Wa~ni6w Upland, and overgrown with a mixed forest of pine and oak (Pino-Quercetum) with an admixture of Larix polonica Rac., Quercus sessilis Ehrh., Q. robur l., Fagus Silvatica L., Abies alba Mill.The shrub species occurring on the slopes of the hill are as follows: Juniperus communis L., .Crategus monogyna Jacq., Evonymus europea L., E. verruposa Scop., Sieglingia decumbens (L.) Lam.The ground cover comprises mostly Hieracium SP,., Fragaria vesca L., Galium vernum Scop., Galeobdolon luteum Huds.This is a floristically rich community, its particular patches showing a considerable species diversity; some of them were created due to the degradation of rich habitats of a natural deciduous forest.
In 1976 the locality was studied quantitatively by z.Trela • I L o c a 1 i t y I V : Rudki, the Zapusty nature reserve, a slope by the Pokrzywianka stream; position EB 03 in UTM system, altitude 325 m a.s.l.The slope contains Devonian shale.The res~rve is situated within the protective zone of the Holy Cross Mountains National Park.The slope is overgrown with xerophiles.It is very steep, almost vertical, and exposed westwards (towards the stream).The surroundings of the slope is an arable land and partly meadows and grazing lands.Because the area is much sloping and rocky, it has maintained its natural character.The slope is undulated, what results in numerous alterations in its exposition: from south~westward, through westward, to north-westward.This considerably af-fec~s the plant and animal species composition on the locality.&asides initial soil which is due to the weathering of rocks, another type that occurs on the locality is brown soil which has originated mainly from Devonian loess.The microclimate of the reserve is warmer and drier than that of the lsog6ry Range.The mean air temperature is 7.7"C, mean annual rainfall: 689 mm (the data from C~elmowa G6ra).
The northern part of the slope is covered with a thin, young forest of Fagus silvatica l., Quercus robur L., Betula verrucosa Ehrh., Tilia cor-~ Mill., and Ulmus campestris L. The undergrowth comprises the following shrub species: Padus avium Mill., Evonymus europaea L., Sorbys aucyparia L., and Viburnum oculus L.
New 1 o c a 1 it i e s in K i e 1 c e : In July 1987 the author of this Paper found new localities of H. lutescens, situated within the area of Kielce.The city is located within the Central Depression of the Holy Cross MountaJns; position OB 73 in UTM system, altitude 268 m a.s.l.The substrata is of Oevonian limestone.Main elements of climate are as follows: mean annual temperature: 7.0 -7.5"C; mean temperature in January: -3.8 --3.5"C; mean temperature in July ; 17.5 -18.0"C; total annual rainfall: 634 mm; snow cover per year: BB days (Klysik 1974 and1976).In 1987 the mean temperature in January was -11.7"C, while in July: 17.7"C (data obtained from the Suk6w Hydro-Meteorological Station of the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management).
In Kielce H. lutescens occurred in isolated populations not far from the centre of the city.It was found inhabiting gardens in the vicinity of Jeleni~a Street, the Czarn6w district.Other gardens it was found to occur quite numerously in were by Wietrznia as well as by Prosta Street and Lenin Avenue.A rather numerous population of the species was also found to inhabit an old cement~ry.

DISCUSSION
The earlier known localities of H. lytescens.recorded from the Holy Cross Mountains by Poli~ski (1917 and1924) and Urba~ski (1937), need verification, since most of them are now covered by a zone of a strong human impact.
The localities of H. lytescens described in the present paper differ in altitude, substrata and habitat type.The most favourable habitats are the limestone slope by the Pokrzywianka stream near Baszowice and the Zapusty reserve at Rudki.These are dry, warm and sunny habitats of a rich xerophilous vegetation.Such habitats are typical of the species.The forest that covers the Gdra Chelmowa Hill is the kind of habitat in which H. lutescens is unnumerous (Tab.1).In forest habitats H. lutescens prefers sunny and warm localities of deciduous trees, especially Fagus silvatica L. and Quercus robur L., as well as forest margins overgrown with shrubs and herbs.The three forest localities described are not typical of the species.It seems to live there in the habitat which hardly corresponds with its needs, however, i~ not only shows •no expansive tendency but here and there is found receding.H. lutescens often occurs sympatrically with H. pomatia.Such cases of the common domination of the two species are known only from South-Eastern Poland (Urbartski 1948).

T a b
The occurrence of H. lutescens on the eight localities in the Holy Cross Mountains, the author deals with, does not permit to judge whether the species is an interglacial relict or a postglacial pseudo-relict.Owing to its quite large size resulting in a favourable proportion between the bo-dy weight and surface, it loses less energy, so less energy needs to warm up its body.The size, however, makes impos'sible its •survival in unfavourable conditions in a small shelter, Hence, it is hardly acceptable that the species was able to survive through the glacial period.The warm and dry subboreal period favoured the spreading of south-eastern xerophilous species as H. lutescens.The presence of the latter on the localities in the Holy Cross Mountains suggests rather its being a postglacial pseudorelict or Late Holocen~ immigrant.

Fig. 1 .Fig. 2 .
Fig. 1.The Holy Cross Mountains localities of Helix lutescens, known be-, fore the study: 1 -border of the Holy Cross Mountains National Park, 2localities of fl.lutescens according to various authorsThe gastropod lives ~ither on dry, sunny slopes overgrown with shrubs, or in other light shrub habitats, on forest margins and in parks and cementaries.It prefers localities situated at altitudes of 200 -400 m a. s.l., but may also be found at greater altitudes o~ up to 600-700 m a.s.1.(Lo!ek 1955).It usually creates isolated populations.