O Ahu Tree Snails

Ocean acidification is an emerging global problem. In some parts of the Pacific, the ocean’s PH levels are so low, that its dissolving sea snails’ shells. Try saying that three times quickly. According to PMEL Carbon Program, the shells will go from completely normal, to nothing in just about 45 days at the moment. As the Oceans acidity increases, the

Therefore, sea otters play an indirect, yet vital role in the preservation of kelp forests. This in turn protects kelp forests and other macroalgae, which would have otherwise been depleted due to grazing by sea urchins. “Where sea otters abound so do lush kelp forests, and where sea otters are absent the habitat is typically deforested by hyperabundant sea urchins” (Soulé et al 1240). The significance of this interaction can be wholly surmised only when the importance of kelp forests is understood. “Kelp forests are a source of food and habitat for dozens of other coastal species” (Soulé et al 1240). Innumerable coastal marine organisms thrive on kelp forests, enhancing biodiversity of the region. Therefore, to maintain the diversity and richness of coastal marine ecology, sea otters should be preserved, who indirectly lead to the preservation of kelps.

The estimate population of E. virginica was determined to be 985 snails and 2002 snails for the riffle and pool areas respectively (Figure 1). With 95% confidence, the true population of snails in the riffle habitat is between 530 and 1440 snails, while the true population residing in the pool microhabitat falls between 1303 and 2701 snails.

The Kaho’Olawe island restoration project is a one of the smallest Hawai’ian Islands located near Maui. The Island is the largest unpopulated offering an opportunity to protect the Hawai’ian species and culture. Kaho’Olawe Island historically support many Hawaii’s native plant and animals yet invasive species present on the island have destroyed native plants and animal’s populations and disruptive of other practices. ISLAND CONSERVATION (IC) is working with the Kaho’Olawe Island Reserve Commission ( KIRC ) to advance the restoration of the islands by the removing of invasive species such as rodents and feral Cats. This effort of removal of these invasive species will allow for the protection of native habitats and providing the opportunity

Furthermore, one of my favorite days during the program was going to the Maui Ocean Center. It is known to be the nation’s largest tropical reef aquarium. This allows people from all over the world to be able to view Hawaii’s beautiful undersea world all at once. Many of the animals that are held captive at the Maui Ocean center are mainly found in Hawaii. The Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles exhibit truly caught my attention at the Ocean center. They have a education outreach program called Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle Educational Loan Program that helps strengthen the population of this particular specie. There was a study done to see how well the captive bred green turtles were adapting to wildlife. The information obtained during 267-481 days of remote monitoring using satellite tracking gave strong support to the premise of successful adaptation to the wild by the four captive- reared juvenile green turtles released by the Maui Ocean Center (Balazs, Parker, Gorman, Luecke, Pawloski, 2015) . Current research in Hawaii shows the Hawaiian green turtle population is increasing since they have been protected by federal law (Maui Ocean Center,

The Ocean is 70 percent of the earth’s surface, humans have explored less than five percent of the ocean, and is home to an innumerable amount of living organisms. One of its oldest inhabitants is the Cheloniidae dates back to the Triassic era, roughly 250 million years ago, (Wang et al., 2013). The Cheloniidae family has several subspecies the Eretmochelys imbricate, Caretta caretta, Dermochelys coriacea, Lepidochelys olivacea, and Chelonia mydas. While there are multiple endangered subspecies of the Cheloniidae; the endangered Chelonia mydas, commonly known as the green turtle, will be the focus of this paper. The paper will discuss the green turtle’s importance to its ecosystem, where they are most commonly found, importance to its ecosystem,

In today’s world, hardly any species of wildlife become extinct from natural causes. Europeans hunt animals to such an extent that we classify it as overhunting. We destroy their habitat, and introduce other animals that are a threat to endangered animals or are competition for resources and food. Habitat destruction is the greatest threat to both animals and plants.

The display will be strategically placed near the entrance of a tropical rainforest exhibit concerning rainforest preservation and animal conservation. The display of the new discovery of H. dianae is used to trigger visitors to think seriously and be concerned about the tropical rainforest ecology, diversity, and conservation. The most important lesson is that it is crucial to save the remarkable tropical rainforest, and the present existing and future new discovered beautiful species before they become extinct.

The Blanding turtle are freshwater medium sized turtle usually found in The Great Lakes Regions in USA and in Canada. They are from the omnivorous species and usually eat crayfish, small animals, and plants. Their life histories traits occurs between April and November, as May and April tend to be more for mating and Early June for nesting. Less than half of these females will actually go on to reproducing. Many of these turtles can actually live up to sixty to a hundred years in age. Though these turtles spend a majority of time in the aquatics they also come on to the mainland. This is were the problem starts to occur and this is why the Blanding sea turtles are currently threatened and may soon be extinct. It is because of us humans that these species are currently facing habitat loss, have threatened nesting areas, and are unable to get from nesting areas to the lakes because of manmade roads. Why should we as humans care so much if these Blanding’s turtles go extinct? These turtles play an important

Listed on the top 100 invasive species in the world. The Achatina fulica or Giant African Snail is an invasive species that is affecting many different areas of the world, predominantly in warmer climate areas. This giant snail is tremendously affecting the environment that it invades and here’s why. Essentially, since the giant African snail is primarily an herbivore it’s main effect on the environment is consuming the plant life. Generally speaking, It’s not so detrimental that it's eating lots of different plants (over 500) the part that’s more worrisome is the contagious pathogens the snail transmits after feeding on the plants. Once the plants or crops are infected, they cannot be sold, let alone be consumed. Along with abundant

Sea turtles have been around the world for over one hundred million years. Sea turtles are important because “they help maintain the health of sea grass beds and coral reefs that benefit commercially valuable species such as shrimp, lobster, and tuna”( ). Even though they have been around for so long, they have made a huge population decline. They were at one point on the verge to extinction. Sea turtles have been classified as endangered since 1982 (D. Elliot 2013). Because of help from many organizations to conserve and protect the sea turtles, their population is now growing. “Today, all sea turtles found in the United States waters are federally listed as endangered” (Sea Turtle Conservancy). Every year there are thousands of baby

abalones are gastropods class mollusk of the animalia kingdom. abalones are also edible, large, and a type of snail. the most comprehensive treatment of the family considers 56 spices valid with 18 additional sub spices. The shells of the abalones have low open spiral structure and are characterized by several open respiratory pores in a row near the shells outer

The pouch snail (belonging to the phylum Mollusca, class Gastropoda, family Physidae, genus Physa) is a small oxygen-breathing freshwater snail. They are very widespread in and tolerant of pollution. This aquatic macro-invertebrate has a soft body that is protected by a hard shell that opens on the left-hand side. Pouch snails live in streams and rivers that tend to have low levels of dissolved oxygen but high amounts of algae, aquatic plants, and animal matter. A high amount of pouch snails in a particular area typically indicates a low water quality and a nutrient-rich environment (Wethington 2006). They are known to be the “vacuum cleaners” stream – they tend to feed on the algae growths and detritus like decaying plant matter and organic waste. Additionally, pouch snails are hermaphrodites and change sex between male and females when needed to procreate (Taylor 2003). They tend to mate once a month if the weather produces conditions (usually warmer temperatures) that are suitable for their mating.

People have always said that snails are very slow! Have you ever wondered just how slow a snail really does move? Maybe there is a place they all move quicker or are happier so they go fast? I found some garden snails that I have kept in a habitat that I created. Having these snails and watching them move, eat, and carry their houses on their back has made me want to learn more. I want to see what they can do! So that is why for my science project, I am studying snails. The specific snail species I am studying is a garden snail.

The chambered nautilus is a snail-like mollusk found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans that has a protective shell that coils in an upward manner, similar to a spiral staircase. Although the subject of debate, overall the shell’s rate of growth follows the elements of the Golden Ratio or Fibonacci Sequence. Nautilus shells grow logarithmically larger on each spiral by almost the same rate but shell variations and imperfections contribute to deviation from the ideal proportion.