Anyone else? Possible positive effect of Burms in Florida?

[LadyWraith]

So, I've been thinking while reading all this info on the recent bans, I haven't seen anyone mention the positive effects these snakes could have (if the topic were researched more) on the Florida ecosystem. My thought: a breeding population=eggs and babies. Aren't most if not all birds there carnivores that EAT small and/or baby swimming things? Correct me if I'm wrong please. And gators? I KNOW gators eat that type of stuff. Their eggs would also be food for the local wildlife... Or would they not create a whole new abundant food source for the local wildlife everyone is concerned about? Oh yea, and I thought gators were so abundant now that they are hunting and culling the big ones en masse? So why is everyone worried about the snakes eating them then? Otherwise Animal Planet wouldn't have fodder for all these swamp people shows. Am I right or wrong in this line of thinking? I just need clarification cause it's been on my mind for awhile.

[WingedWolfPsion]

It has been suggested that mid to top level predators (such as bobcats) were on the decline in the Everglades, leading to an overpopulation of raccoons and opossums, which eat bird eggs, nestlings, and reptile eggs. Burmese find racoons and opossums to be just the right size for a snack, so may potentially reduce the numbers of these predatory animals, more than making up for the occasional bird they take.

Alligators can eat even quite large Burmese pythons, and would eat pythons of all sizes. All snake-eating animals would enjoy eating baby burms, including the endangered indigo snakes.

[RobNJ]

No positive effects whatsoever...

[MrLang]

No positive effects whatsoever...

[JLC]

I may not have the most popular view on this...but what the hell....here goes anyhow....

I get a little frustrated at all the hysteria about the burms in the Everglades...from all sides. Of course the fear mongerers want to blow everything so far out of proportion it's ridiculous and merges into outright lies. But even well meaning herp lovers and conservationists sometimes get all bent out of shape about the issue. And it's that angst that I don't really get.

Yes, I understand that they're not "native" to the area, but how many other well-established creatures are also imported from around the world? Tons...and they've been coming across on ships since the first explorers found the Americas and started traveling here. And not just the Everglades, but all over the world. Sometimes, humans aren't even involved...animals and organisms find all sorts of ways to travel and find new territories and new ways of passing on their genetics to the next generation. They don't care who was there first or if they "belong" there.

The world has NEVER been some kind of static space where every bit of flora and fauna had its particular boundary that it was not allowed to cross. Since the dawn of time, creation or evolution or whatever you believe in, plants and animals and all organisms, have been shifting, moving, evolving, and learning to adapt and fit in wherever they find themselves, and learning to adapt and fit in with whatever else moves in. Thousands upon thousands of species have gone extinct...and humans are only responsible for a tiny fraction of that number. It's just the circle of life.

I DO believe we should do our best to be good stewards of this amazing world. I believe it's what we're here to do. And I believe we should do what we can to prevent invasive species from gaining a foothold, if/when we can. But there is a balance to all of that, as there should be in everything we do. And to be so closed-minded and hard headed as to insist there can be no single benefit to a new species in a particular part of the world just seems...silly....to me. Not to mention a very stress-filled way to live life.

[zach_24_90]

I may not have the most popular view on this...but what the hell....here goes anyhow....

I get a little frustrated at all the hysteria about the burms in the Everglades...from all sides. Of course the fear mongerers want to blow everything so far out of proportion it's ridiculous and merges into outright lies. But even well meaning herp lovers and conservationists sometimes get all bent out of shape about the issue. And it's that angst that I don't really get.

Yes, I understand that they're not "native" to the area, but how many other well-established creatures are also imported from around the world? Tons...and they've been coming across on ships since the first explorers found the Americas and started traveling here. And not just the Everglades, but all over the world. Sometimes, humans aren't even involved...animals and organisms find all sorts of ways to travel and find new territories and new ways of passing on their genetics to the next generation. They don't care who was there first or if they "belong" there.

The world has NEVER been some kind of static space where every bit of flora and fauna had its particular boundary that it was not allowed to cross. Since the dawn of time, creation or evolution or whatever you believe in, plants and animals and all organisms, have been shifting, moving, evolving, and learning to adapt and fit in wherever they find themselves, and learning to adapt and fit in with whatever else moves in. Thousands upon thousands of species have gone extinct...and humans are only responsible for a tiny fraction of that number. It's just the circle of life.

I DO believe we should do our best to be good stewards of this amazing world. I believe it's what we're here to do. And I believe we should do what we can to prevent invasive species from gaining a foothold, if/when we can. But there is a balance to all of that, as there should be in everything we do. And to be so closed-minded and hard headed as to insist there can be no single benefit to a new species in a particular part of the world just seems...silly....to me. Not to mention a very stress-filled way to live life.

i agree... if its gonna happen its gonna happen..

[Mike41793]

Does anyone have facts showing all the predicted negative effects?

[MikeM75]

I may not have the most popular view on this...but what the hell....here goes anyhow....

I get a little frustrated at all the hysteria about the burms in the Everglades...from all sides. Of course the fear mongerers want to blow everything so far out of proportion it's ridiculous and merges into outright lies. But even well meaning herp lovers and conservationists sometimes get all bent out of shape about the issue. And it's that angst that I don't really get.

Yes, I understand that they're not "native" to the area, but how many other well-established creatures are also imported from around the world? Tons...and they've been coming across on ships since the first explorers found the Americas and started traveling here. And not just the Everglades, but all over the world. Sometimes, humans aren't even involved...animals and organisms find all sorts of ways to travel and find new territories and new ways of passing on their genetics to the next generation. They don't care who was there first or if they "belong" there.

The world has NEVER been some kind of static space where every bit of flora and fauna had its particular boundary that it was not allowed to cross. Since the dawn of time, creation or evolution or whatever you believe in, plants and animals and all organisms, have been shifting, moving, evolving, and learning to adapt and fit in wherever they find themselves, and learning to adapt and fit in with whatever else moves in. Thousands upon thousands of species have gone extinct...and humans are only responsible for a tiny fraction of that number. It's just the circle of life.

I DO believe we should do our best to be good stewards of this amazing world. I believe it's what we're here to do. And I believe we should do what we can to prevent invasive species from gaining a foothold, if/when we can. But there is a balance to all of that, as there should be in everything we do. And to be so closed-minded and hard headed as to insist there can be no single benefit to a new species in a particular part of the world just seems...silly....to me. Not to mention a very stress-filled way to live life.

I agree 100%. It may not be a best case scenario but it is what it is. I really don't think there are as many as folks want to say there are anyway though, I think the media blows it completely out of proportion, just to public something else to look at that makes them go oooh and aaaah. The news ONLY reports what they think people will watch so their sponsors will keep giving them money. That is why you only see horrible stuff in the news and I think a lot of this goes back to that. They report and come up with a hundred different statistics to say what they want the population to think. Statistics can be used to say ANYTHING, just depends on how creative you can be. Do I think having evasive species in ANY ecosystem is a good thing... NO, but it is a problem we have and we have to deal with it.

[gruneaugen86]

Ok yes, technically, it is natural for ecosystems to change due to new species coming in, new niches being formed, etc. The thing is, exotic species introduced by humans is not a natural process. Would Burmese pythons have ever ended up in Florida without humans to bring them there? The chances are ridiculously low. How about rabbits in Australia? For those who don't know about Australian ecology, it is relatively fragile, and the introduction of rabbits by humans led to huge amounts of native flora being destroyed in a very short time span. This wouldn't have happened without humans to bring them there.

Now, you are partially right. Many exotic species are introduced and either die off or have no effect whatsoever. A very small percentage of them even have a positive effect on an ecosystem. And then there are those that are eventually "officially" classified as an invasive species, which become well established in the area they are introduced to and start to show the possibility of having a negative effect on the ecosystem. Rabbits in Australia are a good example of this. So are the Asian ladybugs (the orange-y, bitey ladybugs that you see nowadays instead of the bright red, passive ones - which, as a side note, we introduced on purpose to get rid of Asian aphids that were introduced on accident). As far as I understand, the Burmese python is still being carefully studied to determine whether or not it is negatively affecting the Everglades. At this point it is, at the very least, well established in the area, which is the first step towards becoming an invasive species and makes ecologists nervous.

No, the world's ecosystems are not static and never have been. But exotic species introduced by humans cause changes far more quickly than would happen without our involvement.

Sorry, this is a bit of a hot-button issue for me. I'm an aquatic ecologist and have done work in the northern Wisconsin lakes to study the presence and effect of invasive species. It's a bit frustrating to always see the "Oh well, who cares, nature will figure it out" attitude when all of the previously unique ecosystems are slowly blurring into a homogeneous mess of the same group of species.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Absolutely true--it's not really introduced species that is the problem, it's a reduction in biodiversity that is a problem. If an introduced species causes a decrease in biodiversity, then it's bad. If it doesn't, then it's probably not really that bad.