Geology Reports⌕ Search
Home/Archive/USGS

USGS · 70246611

Natives bite back! Are Burmese pythons beginning to encounter the resilience of the Everglades Ecosystem?

Andrea Faye Currylow
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Burmese pythons ( Python bivittatus ) is a large, invasive reptile known in Florida for its devastating impacts on native species in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem. Several organizations and individuals are taking action to research and/or remove the snakes, including the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Since 2018, scientists from USGS’s Fort Collins Science Center have been working closely with the National Park Service (NPS) in Big Cypress National Preserve to use radiotelemetry and track Burmese pythons for various ecological research project and management (enabled by invaluable partnerships with the University of Florida and Zoo Miami). Over those years, we have encountered some incidental, but intriguing findings.

Explore related subjects

Everglades Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area NewsletterNewsletter
90° N90° S · 180° W ← longitude → 180° E
Source-reported bounding extent: 25.100954177515632° to 26.356321909948036° latitude; -81.84481062545576° to -80.35334025346539° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Andrea Faye Currylow. 2022. Natives bite back! Are Burmese pythons beginning to encounter the resilience of the Everglades Ecosystem?. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70246611

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related USGS reports

USGS2023

Burmese python size and reproduction: Fact vs fiction

We’ve probably all heard rumors about monster 25-foot snakes or baby pythons emerging from under neighbors houses year-round, but what is fact vs fiction? To help us sort truth from myth, invasive pythons that were removed from the Everglades and surrendered to the National Park Service (NPS) were scientifically investigated via a partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey Fort Collins Science Center’s (USGS FORT) Invasive Species Science Branch. Other contributing partners were South Florida Water Management District and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Python Contractor and Agent programs. Over the past 25 years more than 4,000 wild Burmese pythons have been found and removed from southern Florida’s Greater Everglades Ecosystem.

Everglades Cooperative Invasive Species Management↗
USGS2022

Increasing the efficiency and power of camera traps for EDRR & ecological monitoring

Invasive species are an ever-growing concern for Florida, especially in important environments like the Greater Everglades Ecosystem. One of the best ways to fight back against invasives is the use of the “Early Detection, Rapid Response” (EDRR) system. The earlier we can detect the presence of a nonnative species, and the faster we respond, the better our chance of stopping its spread. For years, USGS Fort Collins Science Center has been working closely with the National Park Service to use trail cameras to observe the presence of any nonnative species and to monitor research assets in remote locations. Currently, we are working in Everglades National Park to detect invading Black and White Tegu lizards as well as in Big Cypress National Preserve researching the invasive Burmese python and monitoring their nest sites (did you know bobcats eat python eggs!?).

Florida↗