This project involves ongoing development of tools for the detection and capture of invasive reptiles in Florida, with an emphasis on Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) and Black and white tegu lizards (Salvator merianae). The goals are to reduce the risk of reptile invasions in high-value resources such as Everglades National Park and the Florida Keys, to access early detection methods of new incipient populations, to maintain rapid response capacity, and understand the population biology and habitat use of invasive reptiles to inform management options.
The Florida Everglades encompass a vast subtropical ecosystem including Everglades National Park, which is the only place in the United States designated as a World Heritage Site, an International Biosphere Reserve, and a Wetland of International Significance. Billions of dollars have been committed to the long-term restoration of this ecosystem, but burgeoning populations of introduced and invasive reptiles threaten prospects for restoration.
The Burmese python is the most widely known of these invaders, and this giant snake appears to have contributed to drastic declines among several species of midsized mammals in the Everglades. However, other large predatory species including the Argentine tegu and Northern African Python are also established in southern Florida, and the potential impacts of these species are not widely understood.
FORT scientists are conducting research on a range of detection and control tools for invasive reptiles in Florida, including environmental DNA sampling methods, trap development and field testing, and validation of visual searching efficacy. Scientists are also conducting basic ecological research to better understand impacts of these invasive predators and to identify ecological or behavioral vulnerabilities that can be exploited by control tools.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
USGS Everglades Research Office - Florida
Cruising to Improve the Detection of Burmese Pythons in Everglades National Park
Giant Constrictor Snakes in Florida: A Sizeable Research Challenge
Invasive Species in the Everglades – An Opportunity to Engage Youth in Science
- Overview
This project involves ongoing development of tools for the detection and capture of invasive reptiles in Florida, with an emphasis on Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) and Black and white tegu lizards (Salvator merianae). The goals are to reduce the risk of reptile invasions in high-value resources such as Everglades National Park and the Florida Keys, to access early detection methods of new incipient populations, to maintain rapid response capacity, and understand the population biology and habitat use of invasive reptiles to inform management options.
Scientist Michelle Collier holding a black and white Tegu. USGS photo. The Florida Everglades encompass a vast subtropical ecosystem including Everglades National Park, which is the only place in the United States designated as a World Heritage Site, an International Biosphere Reserve, and a Wetland of International Significance. Billions of dollars have been committed to the long-term restoration of this ecosystem, but burgeoning populations of introduced and invasive reptiles threaten prospects for restoration.
A Burmese python slithering in the grass in the Everglades. Photo by: Emma Hanslowe, USGS. Public domain. The Burmese python is the most widely known of these invaders, and this giant snake appears to have contributed to drastic declines among several species of midsized mammals in the Everglades. However, other large predatory species including the Argentine tegu and Northern African Python are also established in southern Florida, and the potential impacts of these species are not widely understood.
FORT scientists are conducting research on a range of detection and control tools for invasive reptiles in Florida, including environmental DNA sampling methods, trap development and field testing, and validation of visual searching efficacy. Scientists are also conducting basic ecological research to better understand impacts of these invasive predators and to identify ecological or behavioral vulnerabilities that can be exploited by control tools.
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
USGS Everglades Research Office - Florida
The Daniel Beard Center in Everglades National Park provides the base for most of the field work done on the control of invasive reptiles by USGS Fort Collins Science Center staff. The team works in Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge, and other parts of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem focusing on, among other species of concern...Cruising to Improve the Detection of Burmese Pythons in Everglades National Park
It is not uncommon to see researchers cruising around Everglades National Park (ENP) on what has been a routine basis for the past ten months. Every evening, interns pack into a Chevy Volt for their shift assisting the U.S. Geological Survey in conducting Burmese Python (Python molurus bivittatus) nighttime surveillance through observational surveys. This effort to detect non-native snakes, namely...Giant Constrictor Snakes in Florida: A Sizeable Research Challenge
Since the mid-1990s, several species of non-native, giant constrictor snakes, such as Burmese pythons and boa constrictors, have surfaced in localities throughout southern Florida. Several are known or suspected to be breeding and appear to be spreading northward. Increasingly, media and other reports of sightings or encounters with these animals have emphasized the dangers they could impose on...Invasive Species in the Everglades – An Opportunity to Engage Youth in Science
Invasive reptiles like the Burmese python (Python bivittatus) and Black-and-White Tegu Lizard (Tupinambis merianae) are exerting tremendous harm on Everglades ecosystems, but these problematic species present an excellent opportunity to engage the next generation in science. Since entering into an agreement with Everglades National Park in late 2013, the Invasive Species Science Branch of the U.S... - Publications
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