Conservation of Island Land Snails (COILS) Australasia
Oceanic islands harbour extraordinary endemic land snails, but these unique species face mounting threats. COILS Australasia works with partners across Australasia and the Pacific to protect them.
Oceanic islands are renowned for their beauty and their stunning diversity of endemic flora and fauna. This extraordinary diversity is in part due to their isolation, leading to in situ speciation by groups with low active dispersal abilities, such as land snails. However, island faunas are also very vulnerable to threats such as habitat loss, introduced predators and climate change. Worldwide, molluscs are the phylum with the highest number of recorded extinctions, largely driven by the impact of introduced predators on land snails living on oceanic islands.
Australia’s oceanic islands have a rich endemic land snail fauna, but these species are under threat. We are working closely with land managers and collaborators on two of Australasia’s oceanic islands, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island, to protect and restore the threatened land snail species. We are also working with collaborators on several islands across the Pacific on biodiversity surveys and capacity building.
COILS Australasia project sites
Base map: https://maps-for-free.com/
Explore land snails across Australasia and the Pacific
Project collaborators
Dr Isabel Hyman
NSW Research Scientist, and Research Scientist, Malacology
Dr Isabel Hyman developed an interest in snails and slugs in the early stages of her undergraduate degree, carrying out taxonomic projects on mollusc groups throughout her B.Sc. (Adv) (Hons) and going on to work at the Australian Museum after graduation.
Isabel has worked extensively on Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island with Critically Endangered land snail species, carrying out surveys and assessments for land managers, as well undertaking ongoing taxonomic revisions and phylogenetic and biogeographic studies.
Dr Frank Köhler
NSW Principal Research Scientist and Group Manager, Malacology
Dr Frank Köhler is a taxonomist specialised in Molluscs. He is particularly interested in non-marine snails and his research in the past years has heavily focussed on improving our knowledge and understanding of Australia’s land snails. Frank uses molecular and morphological methods to address questions relating to taxonomy, systematics, biogeography, speciation and radiation of freshwater and land gastropods. He has described more than 100 new species of land snail and his work has been instrumental to better understand their evolution and conservation.
Dr Mark Eldridge
NSW Senior Principal Research Scientist and Group Manager, Terrestrial Vertebrates
Dr Mark Eldridge's research focuses on the molecular ecology and conservation biology of Australasian terrestrial vertebrates, encompassing dispersal, population structure, gene flow, habitat fragmentation, phylogeography, and the genetic consequences of isolation and population decline, alongside broader interests in chromosome structure and evolution, genome organisation, speciation, and interspecies hybridisation.
Dr Frédéric Saltre
Research Scientist
Dr Frédérik Saltré is a research scientist and joint appointment with the Australian Museum and the University of Technology, Sydney. Dr Frédérik Saltré is an ecologist leading the Biogeography, Ecology & Modelling (BEAM) Lab. Dr Saltré’s research focuses on understanding how species and communities interact with their environments across spatial scales (from local to global) and temporal contexts (past, present, and future).
- Craig Stehn, NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
- Cristina Venables, Lord Howe Island Board
- Ian Hutton, Lord Howe Island Museum
- Associate Professor Kate Umbers, Western Sydney University
- Junn Kitt Foon, Western Sydney University
- James Roberts, Western Sydney University
- Dr Nicholas MacGregor
- Dr Zoe Knapp
- Melinda Wilson
- Dr Allie Andersen
- Sam Burridge
- Dr Monique Van Sluys
- Simon Brown
- Tarryn Williams Clow
- Tara Patel
- Douglas Donaldson
- Nuk Khoo
- Trent Christian
- Michelle Agnew
- Bishop Museum: Dr Ken Hayes, Dr Norine Yeung
- Florida Museum of Natural History: Dr John Slapcinsky
- NatureFiji-MareqetiViti
- Baru Conservation Alliance
- Tetepare Descendants Association
