USGS Coordinated Burmese Python Research Strategy for South Florida (FY21 – FY27) Active
Wetland and Aquatic Research Center and Fort Collins Science Center are coordinating a long-term, landscape-scale Burmese python research strategy for South Florida.
The Science Issue and Relevance: The Burmese python, Python molurus bivittatus, is an invasive exotic species established across thousands of square kilometers of southern Florida, including across Everglades National Park (ENP). This project will develop a strategy for coordinating long-term Burmese python research by WARC and Fort Collins Science Center PIs in South Florida. We are conducting analyses of historical data and using results to guide study designs for new fieldwork aimed at providing demographic data on python vital rates (e.g., survival and abundance) to inform control and removal efforts.
Demographic models using vital rates have been successfully applied to inform management and control of other damaging invasive species, i.e., bullfrogs (see Govindarajulu et al. 2005). Recently, integral projection models (IPMs) used watersnake demographic data to inform eradication efforts and are argued to have 1) enhanced model performance over matrix models when applied to smaller data sets; and 2) be better-suited for ectotherms where vital rates, including fecundity and survivorship, often depend on size instead of discrete age classes. Performing a study to gather demographic information that can be used to maximize efficacy of various control efforts is the primary project goal. Vital rates are critical for accurately identifying key life stages to target for management, estimating population growth or declines, and understanding the number of individuals that must be removed to result in population declines. With estimates of vital rates encompassing annual or geographic variance, we can: 1) understand which life stages have the greatest elasticity for targeted control, and 2) model population growth rates to then evaluate the effect of removals on that population trajectory.
Additionally, we can explore questions such as how much removal effort (temporally and geographically) is required to make a discernable difference. Further, python vital rates and an improved understanding of breeding biology (e.g., prevalence of multiple paternity, effects on survival, reproductive output and frequency, sub-adult dispersal) will provide the foundational metrics informing future genetic biocontrol efforts.
Methodology for Addressing the Issue: To coordinate a Burmese python research strategy for South Florida, we are securing commitments to develop long-term, landscape-scale research to estimate python vital rates. This involves study design, extensive coordination of logistics and site access, partner engagement, development of annual project budgets, securing permits, and updating animal care protocols.
Future Steps: Results from this research will contribute to a more complete understanding of python biology and ecology and thus inform the development of future genetic biocontrol tools and other novel management approaches. These techniques are relatively novel in vertebrates and require more information on python life history before being applied to invasive constrictors.
Wetland and Aquatic Research Center and Fort Collins Science Center are coordinating a long-term, landscape-scale Burmese python research strategy for South Florida.
The Science Issue and Relevance: The Burmese python, Python molurus bivittatus, is an invasive exotic species established across thousands of square kilometers of southern Florida, including across Everglades National Park (ENP). This project will develop a strategy for coordinating long-term Burmese python research by WARC and Fort Collins Science Center PIs in South Florida. We are conducting analyses of historical data and using results to guide study designs for new fieldwork aimed at providing demographic data on python vital rates (e.g., survival and abundance) to inform control and removal efforts.
Demographic models using vital rates have been successfully applied to inform management and control of other damaging invasive species, i.e., bullfrogs (see Govindarajulu et al. 2005). Recently, integral projection models (IPMs) used watersnake demographic data to inform eradication efforts and are argued to have 1) enhanced model performance over matrix models when applied to smaller data sets; and 2) be better-suited for ectotherms where vital rates, including fecundity and survivorship, often depend on size instead of discrete age classes. Performing a study to gather demographic information that can be used to maximize efficacy of various control efforts is the primary project goal. Vital rates are critical for accurately identifying key life stages to target for management, estimating population growth or declines, and understanding the number of individuals that must be removed to result in population declines. With estimates of vital rates encompassing annual or geographic variance, we can: 1) understand which life stages have the greatest elasticity for targeted control, and 2) model population growth rates to then evaluate the effect of removals on that population trajectory.
Additionally, we can explore questions such as how much removal effort (temporally and geographically) is required to make a discernable difference. Further, python vital rates and an improved understanding of breeding biology (e.g., prevalence of multiple paternity, effects on survival, reproductive output and frequency, sub-adult dispersal) will provide the foundational metrics informing future genetic biocontrol efforts.
Methodology for Addressing the Issue: To coordinate a Burmese python research strategy for South Florida, we are securing commitments to develop long-term, landscape-scale research to estimate python vital rates. This involves study design, extensive coordination of logistics and site access, partner engagement, development of annual project budgets, securing permits, and updating animal care protocols.
Future Steps: Results from this research will contribute to a more complete understanding of python biology and ecology and thus inform the development of future genetic biocontrol tools and other novel management approaches. These techniques are relatively novel in vertebrates and require more information on python life history before being applied to invasive constrictors.