Interactions
The importance of land snails is very great when it comes to
ecosystem sustainability. They are
an important food source
for many larger animals and provide calcium to a variety of animals.
Small animals, such as shrews and mice, use snails as a source of
food (Dourson, Dourson 2006). Some salamanders, also, include
land snails in their diets (Dourson, Dourson 2006). Lastly, a
variety of birds consume land snails for nutrients. Wild
turkey and grouse as well as a variety of song birds are predators
of land snails (Dourson, Dourson 2006). The calcium carbonate
found in snail shells are critical for female bird in their
production of eggs (Hammes 2002). The red eft, in particular,
is a predator of snails that live in the Great Smokey Mountain
region that the Fumonelix orestes is found
(Dourson, Dourson 2006).
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