Mansoor, ZaraGawlik, Dale E.2023-02-042023-02-042017-04-18Mansoor, Z. and D. E. Gawlik. 2017. Abundance and habitat associations of the Florida apple snail in South Florida. Florida Atlantic University Undergraduate Research Journal 6: 63-70.https://hdl.handle.net/1969.6/95301The Florida apple snail (Pomacea paludosa) is of special management interest because survival of the endangered Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus) depends on a healthy population of Florida apple snails. In this study, Florida apple snails were sampled across the Everglades from 2005 to 2014. The presence of Florida apple snails was independent of land cover type (slough, prairies etc.), indicating that foraging habitats available to Snail Kites are probably not limiting. However, Snail Kites show a higher use of foraging habitats with lower water depths and snail densities of > 0.1–0.2 snails/m2 (Darby et al., 2012), indicating that they are more restricted in available foraging habitat than what snail land cover use would suggest. In addition, the abundance of Florida apple snails in samples in the Everglades declined during the course of this study, concurrent with a decrease in the number of nesting Snail Kites in the area.en-USArticle