The Natural History of Florida Tree Snails (Liguus Fasciatus) in the Everglades

Lara Drizd

Date of Award

2005

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

McCord, Elzie

Keywords

Willow Bustic, Poisonwood, Wild Tamarind, Florida Tree Snail, Liguus Fasciatus, Certified Everglades Restoration Plan, Everglades National Park, Snail Morphology

Area of Concentration

Environmental Studies

Abstract

Plagued by natural wildfires, hurricanes, real estate developers, and collectors, the Florida tree snails (Liguus fasciatus Müller) that inhabit the Everglades are in serious danger of becoming extinct. As a Species of Special Concern, they have earned protection under Florida law. However, these snails continue to lose precious habitat to increasing development and the status of their populations becomes more precarious each day. The survival of the tree snails is dependent upon historic water levels (Close 2000). Liguus tree snails bury their eggs an inch deep in leaf humus. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan will provide an additional 1.1 million acre feet of water per year to the Everglades (CERP 2004). If too much water is added during the dry season when the young snails have yet to emerge from the soil, many of the covered eggs could potentially drown (Breckenridge 1997). These plans to restore the Everglades will dramatically change the situation of the hardwood hammocks and other ecosystems in a short period of time, but no one has yet studied the potential affects on the Florida tree snail. I hypothesize that the snails may be affected by the changes. In this thesis, I review available literature on the natural history of the tree snails and suggest how the Restoration Plan might impact this delicate species.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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