Invasive Species

Pine Island Flatwoods Preserve Trail and its mesmerizingly vast, green, and timeless landscape. St. James City.

Southwest Florida’s battle of the green: Have invasive plants met their match?

Sam Brucker

Southwest Florida’s landscape is graced by numerous native plant species. From towering longleaf pine trees with their prickly pinecones bobbing in the breeze, to the leatherleaf ferns that blanket the marshy bald cypress forest floors, there is so much more to these native ecosystems than meets the eye.

Environment

Toxic toads: On the hunt for invasive invaders

WGCU News

Spring brings more than blooming flowers and a rise in temperature; it also means that cane toad breeding season begins.

Long-tailed Macaque (Macaca fascicularis). Lake Gardens, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The macaque was one species named in a recent study: “Identifying invasive species threats, pathways, and impacts to improve biosecurity.” A team of experts, led by University of Florida scientists, evaluated terrestrial, aquatic and marine species with characteristics that make them particularly adept at invasion. Their list includes 460 vertebrates, invertebrates, algae and plants.

Environment

New study identifies Florida’s potential invasive species threats

Experts from academic, government and non-profit agencies gathered to evaluate potential invasive species to Florida based on the likelihood of arrival, likelihood of establishment and spread, and potential ecological, economical and human health impacts. Of 460 vertebrates, invertebrates, algae and plants determined to have some invasive characteristics suitable to Florida, 40 species were classified as being at higher risk of invasion. The determination of a species as high-risk does not mean it is of immediate concern; more thorough analyses are required to consider, for example, placement on a monitoring or regulatory list.

A 10-year effort is now published in the journal Management of Biological Invasions by wildlife biologists from the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences revealing how a series of efforts and strategies led to successful control and removal of spectacled caimans in the Eastern Everglades. The animal resembles a smaller American alligator

Blueprint created for invasive species removal in Everglades

Tom Bayles

A coordinated series of efforts over 10 years to eradicate the spectacled caiman from the Western Everglades resulted in the removal of 251 of the creatures

Jake Waleri of Naples, right, and friends caught this 19-foot Burmese python in the Big Cypress National Preserve earlier this month, setting a world record for the longest snake of that species ever caught. The capture perhaps rid the Everglades of one of the original snakes to escape captivity in the 1990s and invade the River of Grass, where they are creating environmental havoc today. Friend Stephen Gauta helps hold up the snake after the duo brought the beast to the Nature Conservancy of Southwest Florida in Naples to have it measured and donated for studies

Environment

Naples man captures 19-foot Burmese python in Big Cypress; confirmed as a world record

Tom Bayles

Naples resident Jake Waleri, who is 22 and an amateur python hunter, caught a world-record 19-footer with some friends earlier this month in the Big Cypress National Preserve.

An area cleared on invasive Carolina willows is now back to functioning as wet prairie, and controlled burns by wildland firefighters will keep it that way

Environment

Audubon clears Corkscrew Swamp of 1,000 acres of invasive willow

Tom Bayles

Fifteen years ago, there was no noticeable problem with the Carolina willows at Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. Slowly, the native plant species grew to the extent of being considered invasive.This particular willow, almost by itself, has expanded the definition of “invasive species” to include particularly aggressive plants that are native to Florida, not just faraway exotics.

An invasive Cuban Tree Frog specimen. Invasive species, amphibians and reptiles. frogs, pests. UF/IFAS Photo by Tyler Jones.

UF/IFAS creates new Invasion Science Research Institute

Mike Kiniry

As director of new UF/IFAS Invasion Science Research, Dr. Matthew Thomas will bring together more than 120 UF/IFAS scientists dedicated to the control of nonnative and invasive wildlife and plant species.

The largest Burmese python discovered in Florida was humanely euthansized by the Conservancy of Southwest Florida to conduct research on the invasive species in Naples, June 22, 2022.

You, too, can help rid Florida of the invasive Burmese python

Tom Bayles

Let’s say that, for fun, you wanted to go into alligator-infested area, hip-deep in water where you can’t see the bottom, standing in mushy marl, in the middle of the night, and try to capture a huge snake that in turn may want to capture you. Then, the Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “2022 Florida Python Challenge®” is for you.

Largest ever Burmese python in Florida found in Collier County

Hayley Lemery

The largest Burmese python ever discovered in Florida was captured from the Everglades and brought to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida for research. The female python, weighing in at 215 pounds and 18 feet long, had 122 eggs inside of her, which is the largest egg count ever recorded for a python.

FWC tries turning invasive water hyacinth into organic fertilizer

Tom Bayles

Right now there is a box-shaped, metal contraption sliding along the surface of Lake Okeechobee. It’s called a boat, but it resembles an aluminum scooper that doesn’t look like it should float. It moves with paddlewheels and sports a pitchfork. The smelly, messy endeavor is the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission’s latest stab at ways to rid Lake Okeechobee of the invasive species.