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  1. #1
    Bogertophis's Avatar
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    The dangers from non-native invasive species like iguanas in Florida-

    NATURE


    Burrowing Iguanas Helped Cause $1.8 Million in Damage in One Florida Town

    By Jan Wesner Childs

    2 days ago

    weather.com








    A green iguana sits on a Florida seawall. The invasive species recently contributed to $1.8 million in damage to a dam in West Palm Beach.
    (UF/IFAS)
    At a Glance

    • The population of green iguanas in South Florida has exploded as temperatures have risen.
    • They've shorted out power lines and undermined buildings.
    • The region's vast network of man-made canals provides an ideal pathway for them to spread.


    South Florida's green iguanas made the news this week for their famous habit of falling from trees when they get too cold, but they are also notorious for something else: burrowing underground to lay their eggs and damaging important infrastructure like power lines and dams.

    The large lizards recently contributed to some $1.8 million of damage in West Palm Beach, where their digging helped undermine a dam that controls water flow into the city's reservoirs, according to the Palm Beach Post. The South Florida Water Management District has experienced similar problems among the multitude of man-made canals that line the Everglades and nearby areas.





    The iguana population endured a mass die-off during a 2010 cold snap but has exploded since, likely due to increasingly warmer temperatures that provide an ideal climate for them to flourish.
    "We have seen a lot of iguanas recently and our staff generally feels it’s because of rising temperatures," Poonam Kalkat, director of public utilities for West Palm Beach, told the Post.
    (MORE: Iguanas Fall From Trees in South Florida as Temperatures Drop)
    Florida's three warmest years in NOAA records dating to 1895 have all occurred in the last four years, and all of the state's 10 warmest years have occurred since 1990. Miami has roughly 75 more days a year in which temperatures reach 90 degrees today than they did in 1970, according to Climate Central.


    [COLOR=#AAAAAA !important]No one knows for sure how many iguanas there are in South Florida,
    but anecdotal evidence shows they've thrived as the weather has gotten warmer. More than
    7,000 iguana sightings in Florida have been recorded by the University of Georgia's Early Detection & Distribution Mapping System since 1998, with the vast majority of them coming since 2012. They hang out in yards, public parks, on airport runways, on sidewalks, alongside roadways and waterways, and just about anywhere else they can find a good place to eat, dig or warm themselves in the sun.
    [/COLOR]


    "Iguanas have proliferated with such intensity in southern Florida that they are now a common sight from the suburbs into the city," Ron Magill, a zoologist at Miami-Dade Zoological Park and Gardens, told ABC News.
    The lizards, which can grow up to five feet long and weigh as much as 17 pounds, were first seen in Miami-Dade County in the 1960s and were probably escaped or released pets, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Populations are now established in Broward, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe and Palm Beach counties on the state's Atlantic coast, and in Collier and Lee counties on the Gulf Coast.


    An iguana was blamed for shorting out a power line and causing electricity to be cut to a nursing home in Lauderdale Lakes in 2018, sending 20 residents to the hospital, according to the Associated Press. Last year, the pesky reptiles were blamed for digging under the foundation of a restaurant near Miami, causing $40,000 in damage, the Miami Herald reported.
    Iguanas can burrow up to 6 feet underground to lay their eggs, and that can cause soil erosion and banks to collapse.
    In West Palm Beach, Kalkat told the Post the damaged dam was old and already in need of repair, but the iguanas "definitely made the situation worse."
    Besides the ideal climate, the extensive canal network in South Florida serves as a perfect pathway for iguanas to spread and colonize new areas.
    "It seems like it will be an issue into the future," Kalkat said. "With a single water control structure, you can fix it, but how can you do it for hundreds and hundreds of miles of canals?"
    The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
    Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
    Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)

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    Kam (01-25-2020),richardhind1972 (01-24-2020),welshmorphology (01-27-2020)

  3. #2
    Bogertophis's Avatar
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    I decided to share this as "food for thought" on the unforeseen results of releasing non-native species such as iguanas. I'm not an iguana-keeper & I never realized
    just how much digging they do; in a state like Florida, with such a high water table & extensive access to canals, this really IS a destructive menace to property, and
    especially when you throw in the extra storms & high tides that result from the warming climate. Nothing against iguanas per se but they're too successful for their
    own good in a place like Florida.
    Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
    Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)

  4. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Bogertophis For This Useful Post:

    bcr229 (01-24-2020),welshmorphology (01-27-2020)

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