Studies on the ecology of the endangered camaenid land snail Thersites mitchellae (Cox, 1864)

Many Australian land snail species are assumed to have declined in distribution and abundance, but there are few quantitative data available to assess their conservation status. Thersites mitchellae (Cox, 1864) (Camaenidae) is listed as endangered (category ENC2a) on the IUCN 1997 Red List of Threatened Species. Population parameters such as abundance, probability of survival, and probability of site occupancy were estimated. The methods take detection probability into account and allow for the inclusion of sampling, habitat, and individual animal covariates. These models and techniques offer considerable scope for application to land snail conservation particularly for species at risk of extinction.