Land Snails at the Zoo: A Biodiverse Community with Conservation and Educational Potential

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

In the manuscript “Land snails at the zoo: a biodiverse community with conservation and educational potential” the authors targeted land snails, a species-rich group that links the brown decomposition food web and the plant-based web and which is preyed upon by fireflies and birds, among others. This manuscript is well organized, and the drawn conclusions are coherent with the obtained results. The paper was well written!

Lines 24 – 25: Please, arrange the keywords alphabetically.

Lines 27 – 65: Please, reduce this part of the manuscript.

Lines 68 – 69: I think that you should these important references as examples to support your sentence: “In contrast, snails are easily, though often unintentionally, transported through human activities”. I would like to suggest:

Bosso, L., et al., (2022). The rise and fall of an alien: Why the successful colonizer Littorina saxatilis failed to invade the Mediterranean Sea. Biological Invasions, 24(10), 3169-3187.

Hirano, T., et al., (2023). Reconsidering invasion history of common land snails in Japan through genome-wide analyses. Biological Invasions, 25(11), 3535-3549.

Lines 78 – 84: Please, explain in detail you hypothesis and predictions.

Line 109: The letters in the figure are unreadable.

Lines 145 – 153: You should add more information about your setting in the statistical analysis.

Lines 217 – 274: This part should be expanded. The authors should discuss their results comparing them also with other studies already published.

Minor editing of English language required

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The manuscript explores the ecological interactions within zoological gardens, focusing on the role of plants in supporting diverse animal species, with a specific emphasis on land snails. The study highlights the importance of conservation initiatives within zoo grounds and suggests that the observed communities can serve as valuable educational resources. Overall, the manuscript is well-structured, and the findings contribute to our understanding of the ecological dynamics in managed environments.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

W pracy przedstawiono ciekawy problem badawczy występowania ślimaków w Ogrodzie Zoologicznym i Botanicznym. Badanie 24 stanowisk w Oklahoma 14 City Zoo and Botanical Garden ujawniło zróżnicowaną faunę ślimaków składającą się z 23 gatunków. Społeczności te mogą tworzyć obszary demonstracyjne ochrony przyrody, które są podstawą programów edukacyjnych, w tym programów popularyzatorskich. Autorom należą się gratulacje za podjęcie tego badania.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf