Gastrointestinal seeds collected from invasive Burmese pythons (2014-2021) and Black and White Tegu lizards (2016-2022) in South Florida

Seeds extracted from the gastrointestinal contents of Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) and Black and White Tegu (Salvator merianae) lizards in South Florida were sorted and identified to genus or species. Seeds were then categorized as invasive (category I: history of negative impacts or category II: potential for negative impacts), native, non-native, threatened, endangered, and commercially exploited in the state of Florida. Status for species determined by 1) Florida Invasive Species Committee, 2) Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, 3) University of South Florida Atlas of Florida Plants, and the 4) Institute for Regional Conservation Floristic Inventory of South Florida. We also provide code written in the R programming language to analyze the seed data using a binary interaction network to assess seed dispersal interactions and evaluate how these invasive reptiles may functionally differ as seed dispersers. Interaction network coding provides a robust analytical framework for quantifying and visualizing the frequency, intensity, and complexity of ecological interactions within communities.