Habitat
Habitats of animals depend on many factors including: reproductive success, predators/prey, food source, weather, and many other factors.
Patera clarki has
been located in only four states in the south eastern part of
the United States including Tennessee, North Carolina, South
Carolina, and Georgia.
Nor
Land snails live in most any type of terrestrial habitats, including but not limited to soils, caves, vegetation, and tree canopies (Heller, 2001). Needing moisture and food these snails are often found in forests or near rivers/lakes were they have easy access to water and food. Unfortunately, these snails are imperiled meaning they are in danger of becoming endangered species or even extinct (Eol.org, 2012). This is unfortunate because they are important to their ecosystem.
Importance:
These snails are massively important to the forests as they are
herbivores and they tend to feed on decomposing leaves and
plants. Other organisms that live around the snail go from
earthworms to wolves to fish, as there are a lot of organisms
that need to be near water sources and thrive in forests. Other
organisms such as plants benefit greatly as they are allowed
more space to grow because the snail helps decomposing plants
disappear. The plants are benefited because this allows for more
growth. Organisms such as animals are
benefited when more plants grow. Then herbivores have more food for consumption, which means they mate
and then there are more prey for the predators allowing them to
thrive. Not to mention they serve as a food source themselves.