I, For One, Welcome Our New Burmese Python Overlords!
EDIT
So what next? That’s the big question and the subject of a new Journal of Applied Ecology study by biologist John Willson of the University of Arkansas. Curious about the future of a python-regulated ecosystem, Willson dug scores of artificial turtle nests across and outside the pythons’ range, then used motion-triggered cameras to monitor nest predation. (Rather than turtle eggs, Willson’s nests contained quail eggs.)
Where pythons prevailed, the nests were less-disturbed, as would be expected in the near-absence of egg-loving raccoons and opossums. This suggests a possibly turtle-rich future for the Everglades, and is also emblematic of the indirect, cascading consequences of the pythons’ rise.
“It is probable that pythons are having a strong positive indirect effect on turtle nesting success in southern Florida,” writes Willson, “and may also be having positive indirect effects on recruitment of other small egg-laying species in the Everglades such as ground-nesting songbirds, lizards, sea turtles, and oviparous snakes.” It’s not all good news for egg-layers, though. Willson notes that pythons have recently been documented eating the eggs of larger species, including guineafowl and crane-like birds called Limpkin.
As some populations expand and others contract, their ecological roles will also change. Given the importance of animals as seed-dispersers, for example, certain plant populations might also expand and contract; and that principle can be applied in the myriad contexts of each species’ life history. Altogether, writes Willson, changes might be expected in “vegetation composition or structure, nutrient dynamics, food web structure, or ecosystem services.” The very fabric of the Everglades could be rewoven.
EDIT
http://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/02/pythons-everglades-future/