Fla. losing war against invasive species

Florida is in a war against invasive species, and the state is losing.

We’ve all but surrendered the Everglades to Burmese pythons, and here’s a word of warning.

“You may think you’ve got it bad with pythons, but I guarantee there are worse things out there,” said Christy Martin, an invasive species outreach coordinator at the University of Hawaii. “There are things out there that will find their way to your door.”

She pointed to a new disease that’s wiping out ‘ohi’a trees, which are the pillar of Hawaii’s forests. Botanists have never encountered it and aren’t sure how to fight it.

As ominous as the known invasive species are, what really worries scientists is how invaders might evolve in the wild.

About 200 experts addressed such things at an invasive species summit in Davie last month. Many were on the front lines long before the first marsh rabbit was gulped down by a python.

Midway through the symposium, a biologist from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration got up and cut to the chase.

“There’s a disconnect here,” he declared. What the experts know is not really resonating beyond that conference room. The Nature Conservancy says the crisis in Florida is worse than anywhere except Hawaii.

Our current war was largely inevitable because flora and fauna have been invading Florida for centuries. People imported much of it, oblivious to the consequences if many species weren’t properly regulated.

The consequences are becoming obvious, but Florida still makes it far too easy for the invaders.

“There is a huge gap in enforcement,” said Emily Bell, an invasive species extension coordinator at the University of Florida. “Florida does not have good system to combat that.”

Here are a few steps that would help close some gaps.

Expand lists of banned species.

An Asian monitor and a water monitor are lizards that can grow up to 8 feet long and devour everything in sight.

But you can buy the former and not the latter.

In fact, only eight reptile species are on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s “Conditional list,” meaning they can’t be sold as pets.

That makes no sense.

Hawaii bans entire animal genera, not just individual species. Florida should do the same.

Move more swiftly with regulations.

Wildlife officials sounded alarms in 2006 about the Everglades snake invasion. Burmese pythons weren’t banned until 2012.

The FWC didn’t ban any more snakes until this February, when it added three types of anacondas and the brown tree snake.

Tighten access at points of entry.

Japanese climbing ferns are on the state’s banned list, but you can buy one online for $5.79 and have it delivered to your house. It’s the same with scores of other plants and animals.

Controlling internet sales is a daunting task with no obvious solutions. But if progress isn’t made, Florida will remain a sieve for destructive species. Martin said developing better algorithms to detect suspicious shipments is one way to close the internet hole.

Involve the public.

Technology is making that easier with an app known as EDDMapS.

If someone spots a suspicious looking plant or animal, they can take a picture of it and send it to the FWC. That allows scientists to map the invasion and spring into action more quickly.

Fund prevention initiatives.

The faster an invader is spotted, the less chance it has to gain a foothold. The state needs to beef up programs like Early Detection and Rapid Response that eradicate invaders before they start spreading.

“Prevention is cheaper than the cure,” said Dr. Frank Mazzotti, UF biologists who heads a team known as the Croc Docs.

The Nature Conservancy said managing Florida’s invasive plants costs an estimated $100 million annually. The cost of animal management exceeds that.

Mazzotti said $500,000 in additional EDRR funding would save millions.

“Almost all successes in eradicating invasive species have been when the problem is met early and with brute force,” he said.

Giant African land snails are big as rats, can eat the paint off cars and destroy agriculture. They also can carry a parasite known as “rat lungworm” that can burrow into human brains and cause meningitis.

There were more than 150,000 in South Florida four years ago. Aggressive eradication measures were taken and the snails were virtually eliminated by 2017.

Big, slimy threats occasionally grab headlines. Photos of python hunters holding a 17-foot-long trophy goes viral, but few people comprehend the overall threat.

Since the scariest-looking invasive species are cold-blooded, people north of the Everglades take comfort in thinking weather will largely keep the war contained.

Don’t be so sure.

Burmese pythons have bred with Indian pythons in the Everglades to create a “hybrid super snake” that can potentially thrive in new environments. Scientists were shocked in 2016 to discover large lizards known as tegus can produce heat like warm-blooded mammals.

Thousands of them are currently roaming South Florida.

“People who think we know enough to predict what will happen, they’re full of crap,” the NOAA biologist said.

One thing is inarguable: The people fighting the war on invasive species need more help.

“We’re all playing Dutch boy with the dike,” Mazzotti said.

If the holes aren’t plugged, there’s no telling what might find its way to your door. This is the second of two editorials about Florida’s invasive species. Today: What the state can do about it.

This editorial originally appeared in The Orlando Sentinel.