Close Menu
  • Home
  • COMMUNITY NEWS
  • LOCAL NEWS & EVENTS
  • SCHOOL NEWS
  • MILITARY NEWS
  • CRIME / PUBLIC SAFETY
  • THINGS TO DO
  • HEALTH & WELLNESS
  • HOME & GARDEN
  • NORTHWEST FLORIDA NEWS
  • FLORIDA NEWS
  • Contact
Facebook
Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Niceville.com
Niceville.com
Home»FLORIDA NEWS»Study dives into the threat of invasive apple snails in Florida
FLORIDA NEWS

Study dives into the threat of invasive apple snails in Florida

Niceville.comMarch 11, 20234 Mins Read
Adult island apple snail
Adult island apple snail. (Bill Frank, jacksonvilleshells.org)

FLORIDA – Do you have invasive apple snails in a pond, ditch, or waterway on your property?

Advertisement
Eglin Federal Credit Union auto loan ad with family and open road theme.

It’s not surprising to researchers at the University of Florida if you do.

Don’t panic, but apple snails can grow up to six inches high.

Reportedly, the species was first introduced in Florida through the aquarium trade in 1989 in Palm Beach County and has since become established throughout most of the state.

Advertisement
Deer Moss Creek® advertisement by Ruckel Properties, Inc. promoting available homes and lots.

There are apple snails from Miami-Dade County to as far northeast as Nassau County and as far west as Okaloosa County, said the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS).

According to the UF/IFAS, they are found in freshwater lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, and ditches. Where they’re in abundance, they have crossed into wetlands.

While they spend most of their lives under the water, apple snails lay their eggs above the water line. It is no longer unusual for residents to come across bright pink egg clusters on vegetation and other hard surfaces like pilings, culverts, bridges, and coastal seawalls. Each cluster contains between 500 and 700 eggs.

Advertisement
A square digital ad for Midbay Veterinary Hospital with multiple dogs of different breeds, a blue veterinary cross logo, Dr. Maya Chapman’s contact information, and a “Click” button for scheduling an appointment.

In the last decade, apple snails have become a potential threat to Florida’s wetlands.

In a newly published study, University of Florida researchers at the UF/IFAS provide the first look at the potential environmental impacts of one of three invasive apple snail species on Florida’s wetlands. The paper’s findings show how the invasion of Pomacea maculata – commonly called the island apple snail or giant apple snail – and land management combines to affect multiple ecosystem functions and services in Florida’s wetlands.

“We learned the apple snail invasion can greatly alter wetland ecosystem functions, particularly plant communities and nutrient cycling,” said Jiangxiao Qiu, assistant professor of landscape ecology at the UF/IFAS Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center and School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, and one of the study’s authors.

Advertisement
Eglin Federal Credit Union auto loan ad with family and open road theme.

“All these influences can translate to impacts on ecosystem services, which are the ecological benefits to humans, such as plant productivity, water quality, habitat maintenance and landscape aesthetic values of wetlands.”

The study’s authors hope the findings will give ecologists, natural resource managers, invasion science researchers, and wetland scientists globally needed information to develop tailored actions that will mitigate apple snail impacts and conserve wetland ecosystems.

“Invasive apple snails exert significant destructive impacts on agricultural wetlands serving as rice farms in Southeast Asia and the southeastern United States,” Qiu said.

Advertisement
Eglin Federal Credit Union auto loan ad with family and open road theme.

“In Florida, while rice farms are not dominant agricultural land uses, the understudied invasive apple snails are abundant, and they can exert impacts on natural and semi-natural wetlands.”

Florida has one native type of apple snail and three nonnative species, all of which can easily overpopulate areas by outcompeting native species. They destroy aquatic vegetation, damage agriculture, and adjacent communities, and can impact human health.

Group of four apple snails with a penny to demonstrate the size of the snails.
Florida apple snails. (Bill Frank, jacksonvilleshells.org)

“For the research community, we showed how complex and varied apple snail impacts can be for critical ecosystem functions in different wetland types,” said Chase O’Neil, a biologist on the team and lead author of the study.

“This work has broad-reaching implications for other ecosystems worldwide where apple snails have invaded natural and agricultural wetlands because it can help develop management strategies.”

In the study, researchers measured how wetlands changed as a result of an apple snail invasion.

Advertisement
Deer Moss Creek® advertisement by Ruckel Properties, Inc. promoting available homes and lots.

“Overall, we found that invasive snails substantially decreased aboveground biomass and vegetation cover and exhibited preferential feeding on wetland plant species,” said Qiu.

“Snails also increased water nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous and dissolved solids.”

The study is available in the March 2023 journal Science of the Total Environment at doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160939.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Previous ArticleFlorida woman sentenced for stealing Social Security benefits
Next Article Cape Coral caretakers plead guilty to stealing more than $500,000 from senior

Related Posts

Poster promoting the 32nd Annual Single Handed Race at Bluewater Bay Marina on October 18, 2025.

2025 Single Handed Race set for October 18 at Bluewater Bay Marina

September 11, 2025
A coyote standing in a wooded Florida landscape.

Coyotes in Florida: separating facts from fear

September 10, 2025
A Florida black bear standing on sandy ground with brush in the background.

2025 Florida bear hunt permit applications open Sept. 12

September 9, 2025
Advertisement
Eglin Federal Credit Union auto loan ad with family and open road theme.
Categories
  • COMMUNITY NEWS
  • CRIME / PUBLIC SAFETY
  • FLORIDA NEWS
  • HEALTH & WELLNESS
  • HOME & GARDEN
  • IT'S GEEK TO ME
  • LARRY WILLIAMS
  • LOCAL NEWS & EVENTS
  • MARKETPLACE NEWS
  • MILITARY NEWS
  • NORTHWEST FLORIDA NEWS
  • OUTDOORS
  • ROADS / TRANSPORTATION
  • SCHOOL NEWS
  • THINGS TO DO
Advertisement
The Wharf 850 Niceville, Florida
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
  • EGLIN FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
  • EYEWEAR UNLIMITED
  • HAIR EXPRESS
  • MIDBAY VETERINARY HOSPITAL
  • NICEVILLE FARMERS MARKET
  • NICEVILLE INSURANCE AGENCY
  • RUCKEL PROPERTIES, INC.
  • THE WHARF 850
Advertisement
The Wharf 850 Niceville, Florida
Categories
  • COMMUNITY NEWS
  • CRIME / PUBLIC SAFETY
  • FLORIDA NEWS
  • HEALTH & WELLNESS
  • HOME & GARDEN
  • IT'S GEEK TO ME
  • LARRY WILLIAMS
  • LOCAL NEWS & EVENTS
  • MARKETPLACE NEWS
  • MILITARY NEWS
  • NORTHWEST FLORIDA NEWS
  • OUTDOORS
  • ROADS / TRANSPORTATION
  • SCHOOL NEWS
  • THINGS TO DO
Advertisement
Advertisement

ABOUT NICEVILLE.COM

PRIVACY POLICY

TERMS OF SERVICE

© 2025 Niceville.com. All Rights Reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.