Severe mammal declines coincide with proliferation of invasive Burmese pythons in Everglades National Park

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
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Abstract

Invasive species represent a significant threat to global biodiversity and a substantial economic burden. Burmese pythons, giant constricting snakes native to Asia, now are found throughout much of southern Florida, including all of Everglades National Park (ENP). Pythons have increased dramatically in both abundance and geographic range since 2000 and consume a wide variety of mammals and birds. Here we report severe apparent declines in mammal populations that coincide temporally and spatially with the proliferation of pythons in ENP. Before 2000, mammals were encountered frequently during nocturnal road surveys within ENP. In contrast, road surveys totaling 56,971 km from 2003–2011 documented a 99.3% decrease in the frequency of raccoon observations, decreases of 98.9% and 87.5% for opossum and bobcat observations, respectively, and failed to detect rabbits. Road surveys also revealed that these species are more common in areas where pythons have been discovered only recently and are most abundant outside the python's current introduced range. These findings suggest that predation by pythons has resulted in dramatic declines in mammals within ENP and that introduced apex predators, such as giant constrictors, can exert significant top-down pressure on prey populations. Severe declines in easily observed and/or common mammals, such as raccoons and bobcats, bode poorly for species of conservation concern, which often are more difficult to sample and occur at lower densities.
Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Severe mammal declines coincide with proliferation of invasive Burmese pythons in Everglades National Park
Series title Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
DOI 10.1073/pnas.1115226109
Volume 109
Issue 7
Year Published 2012
Language English
Publisher National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Publisher location Washington, D.C.
Contributing office(s) Fort Collins Science Center
Description 5 p.
Larger Work Type Article
Larger Work Subtype Journal Article
Larger Work Title Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
First page 2418
Last page 2422
Country United States
State Florida
Other Geospatial Everglades National Park
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