Chapter 3 North Carolina Species
Snail Priority Species by Evaluation Categories and Comparison between SWAPs
Knowledge Gaps
Management Needs
SWAP Date
SGCN
LAND SNAILS 2025
53 47 47
190
56 14 14
2020 Addendum 1
20 20
2015
The following sections highlight specific conservation issues related to SGCN and their habitats. This is not an exhaustive list of species-specific conservation concerns but rather highlights some of the concerns in the state. Recommendations for priority survey, monitoring, and research studies, conservation actions, and partnerships are outlined in Section 3.9.8. 3.9.3 Conservation Concerns There are two species of snails listed for federal ESA protection in North Carolina: the Noonday Globe is a federal-threatened land snail, and the Magnificent Ramshorn is a federal- endangered aquatic snail. There are also several aquatic and land snails listed for state protection as endangered, threatened, or special concern. Tables 3-8 (aquatic snails) and 3-9 (land snails) in Appendix 3 provide a list of these species. The National Strategy for the Conservation of Native Freshwater Mollusks (FMCS 2016) outlines 10 priority conservation issues for freshwater mussels and snails. The first priority is to increase knowledge of the distribution and taxonomy of mollusks at multiple scales, over time (FMCS 2016) . Lysne et al. (2008) states the primary causes of imperilment for listed snail species are loss or alteration of habitat. Other threats, including water pollution and invasive species, combined with habitat loss or alteration, result in declines of snails worldwide (Lydeard et al. 2004 Lysne et al. 2008) . While efforts to protect healthy aquatic habitats benefit all aquatic species, including aquatic snails, efforts directed specifically to conserve freshwater gastropods have lagged behind efforts to conserve other freshwater species (Lysne et al. 2008) . Very little research has addressed gastropods found in large river systems, but snails in these systems are subject to the same threats in regulated waters as protected fish and mussel species (Brown et al. 1998; Haynes et al. 1999; Brown and Devries 2000; Brown 2001; Greenwood and Thorp 2001) . In the Coastal Plain ecoregion, saltwater intrusion is emerging as a significant threat to species in freshwater coastal systems. Published research on freshwater gastropods in North America has focused on their effects on algae in small-order streams or have focused on pulmonate snails (snails that have a lung and are hermaphroditic), which are rare in large river systems (Greenwood and Thorp 2001) . Because prosobranch species do not disperse over land, habitat fragmentation, such as the presence of
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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