Oreohelix cooperi
...these are the
little things that run the earth. They are the invertebrates, they are the fungi, the
microorganisms, and these are treasure houses of their own that have not even begun to be
explored.
E.O. Wilson
A pulmonate snail endemic to the Black Hills of South Dakota, Oreohelix cooperi is also known as the Cooper's Rocky Mountainsnail.Oreohelix cooperi colonies are found only in undisturbed forests in the northern Black Hills. Much of the habitat that once harbored colonies has been destroyed by the activities of people. Alteration of the remaining undisturbed forests creates conditions that increase dessication of the forest floor, Oreohelix cooperi and many other land snails cannot survive this. Livestock or large wild ungulates can graze and browse out the understory, fires burn out forest, logging opens up the canopy and increases the sunlight reaching the forest floors, any of these events will destroy colonies of snails. Remaining colonies are fragmented and isolated. Snails are poor colonizers. It takes a long time for habitat to recover and even longer for snails to recolonize it. Unless the trend of not protecting colonies is reversed, the chances of extinction increase.
These photos were taken in Spearfish Canyon where there are still many colonies. Snail experts believe there may be as many as three species of Oreohelix endemic to the Black Hills. In the western United States, there are many species of Oreohelix in isolated mountain ranges. The distribution of land snails is interesting, since land snail species are not capable of rapid dispersal into new habitats. The Black Hills is now surrounded by hundreds of miles of grassland that is uninhabitable by these snails. So, how did Oreohelix snails arrive in the Black Hills? It is thought that these snails colonized thousands or tens of thousands years ago, when conditions were more favorable. It is also possible that at some point in geological history, there were streams flowing from the Rocky Mountains to the Black Hills region, the snails may have been able to drift into the Black Hills, despite the fact that they are not aquatic snails. The Powder River now has eroded south and cut off these streams before they reach the Black Hills.
Land snails like Oreohelix cooperi are important in the ecosystems they inhabit. The snails feed on dead and decaying vegetation and are part of the vast array of decomposers that function in the numerous nutrient cycles. Snails are an important food source for many birds, supplying the essential elemental nutrient, calcium, necessary for the development of eggs. The endemic Black Hills Redbelly Snake preys on snails and, according to reports from a colleague who has raised captive bred Black Hills Redbelly Snakes, favors the larger Oreohelix species.
I personally don't believe that people need to justify the existence of organisms like these. They exist here because they could get here and survive and have done so for thousands of years. Land snails are part of a healthy ecosystem. The real value of a species is usually never realized or understood. The mold that grows on bread always was and still is a nuisance, but until Alexander Fleming discovered the antibiotic properties of the Penicillium fungi, that's all it was, a nuisance. I'm sure most people would have been happy to exterminate it. Many people would be satisfied to see the wolf exterminated, forgetting the vital role it plays in nature and overlooking the fact that every breed of dog in existence today are direct descendents of wolves. Nearly all of the agricultural food products we use everyday were derived from the genetic code of wild plants and animals, through artificial selection by humans in just the past few thousands of years. The secrets locked in the genetic code of every organism on earth are almost unknown to us, a vast untapped resource developed over millions of years of natural selection, that is disappearing. Oreohelix cooperi is no less important than any other species in the Black Hills. We don't need to rationalize its existence, we do need to take better care of our planet.