Snail faunas in the early stages of a chalk grassland succession

Snail faunas from 10 sites in chalk grassland on the South Downs are described. The sites represent a range of early stages in the succession of grazed chalk grassland to scrub. The faunas of the later stages sampled, with vegetation 12–45 cm high, are substantially different from those of the earlier stages (2.5–10 cm high), lacking most xerophil species, and having much higher proportions of species typical of woods and hedgerows. The results are discussed in relation both to those from other studies of existing faunas, and also to the environmental interpretation of buried faunas from geological and archeologtcal studies.