Range Habitat Life History Feeding Population Impacts Protection Home

Population Impacts

Tree snail populations are impacted by natural and manmade processes. They include predation, freezes, fire, hurricanes, floods, droughts, habitat alteration and pesticide spraying.

Predators include birds, the carnivorous snail Euglandina, and ground-scavenging animals such as raccoons, opossums, armadillos, land crabs and ants.

The tree snails fragile shell offers little protection from cold weather which limits their survival north of their current range. Although fire is a necessary component of the south Florida ecosystem, natural wildfires are often extinguished because of danger to property or traffic visibility.  The resulting buildup of vegetation produces intense fires which may kill snails and destroy hammocks. Man-caused fires occurring outside the natural fire season may be equally destructive.

Natural processes, like fire and hurricanes, may  have impacts on tree snail habitat but are often necessary for its long-term maintenance. Many species  in south Florida have adapted to such events.

The series of manmade canals and water control structures in south Florida have altered the natural flow of water. Human manipulation of water and its concentration in the remaining wetlands can impact the Florida tree snail by being too wet or too dry at the wrong time of year.

Flooding during the winter months will kill eggs that had been laid in the leaf litter the previous fall. Extended droughts may desiccate the snails in spite of their protective seal.

The loss of habitat by land development probably has had the most impact on snail populations. The effects of a bulldozer need not be explained, and it continues today in unprotected portions of the snails range.

In the mix of public and private land outside of the federal parks, the spraying of pesticides for mosquito and crop pest control may kill Florida tree snails.  Even if some hammocks are in public ownership where direct spraying is prohibited, aerial drift occurs.