Pythons may be changing the Everglades in a surprising way.<\/p>\n
New research indicates that Burmese pythons could be altering landscapes in Florida by carrying seeds to new places and affecting which plants become established.<\/p>\n
That possible role adds to the damage the invasive snakes have already inflicted on native animals and habitats in South Florida.<\/p>\n
What happened?<\/p>\n
A study<\/a> published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Zoology indicates that pythons may influence ecosystems through seed transport and predation.<\/p>\n The Conservancy<\/a> of Southwest Florida, which covered the research’s impact, said the snakes appear to move seeds after eating mammals and birds that eat fruit.<\/p>\n Researchers from the University of Florida and the U.S. Geological Survey, using field data supplied by the Conservancy of Southwest Florida’s python team, found<\/a> 25 different seed types in python digestive-tract samples. Those included native Everglades plants such as cabbage palm and creeping cucumber.<\/p>\n Essentially, they identify these reptiles as possible unintentional “secondary seed dispersers.” So while pythons are removing native animals from the food web, they may also be relocating plant life into new areas.<\/p>\n Why does it matter?<\/p>\n The study<\/a> also found a strong sign that this seed movement is not merely theoretical. According<\/a> to the Conservancy, a supported germination test found that nearly 40% of cabbage palm seeds survived a trip through a python’s gut and later germinated.<\/p>\n That means pythons could be helping both native and invasive plants spread into sensitive habitats.<\/p>\n The Conservancy said native mammals that usually disperse seeds have already declined sharply due to pythons. Shifting that function to a massive invasive predator represents a major ecological disruption.<\/p>\n The Conservancy said the findings show invasive species “reshape ecosystems in ways that are not always obvious” and that the damage caused by these animals can extend beyond the species they directly kill.<\/p>\n Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pythons may be changing the Everglades in a surprising way. New research indicates that Burmese pythons could be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":708443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[4166,6559,2808,17843,4169,305773,79,4165,16645],"class_list":["post-708442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-burmese-pythons","tag-everglades","tag-florida","tag-invasive-plants","tag-native-animals","tag-native-mammals","tag-science","tag-south-florida","tag-southwest-florida"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=708442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}