Invasive Species

The Florida Non-Native Fish Action Alliance brings together federal and state agencies, academic institutions, and non-governmental organizations to address the need for documenting and managing the non-native fishes introduced to the state's waters.

November 1 - 2, 2016 – Eight teams of fishery biologists from the US Geological Survey (USGS), US Fish and Wildlife Service - Peninsular Florida Fisheries Office and Welaka National Fish Hatchery (USFWS), the National Park Service (NPS), Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Florida International University (FIU), and Zoo Miami sampled 20 sites for non-native fishes in Palm...

Maculata applesnails (Pomacea maculata) are exotic freshwater snails that have been widely introduced along the Gulf of Mexico coast. The snails can significantly impact freshwater macrophytes and reduce the quality of water bodies.

Nutrias (Myocastor coypus) are an aquatic rodent imported from South America to the United States in the 1920-40’s for the fur farms. Since their original importation they have become established in the wild in many regions of the United States.

Maculata applesnails (Pomacea maculata) are exotic freshwater snails that have been widely introduced along the Gulf of Mexico coast. They can significantly impact freshwater macrophytes and reduce water quality.

Detecting invasive species at low densities or prior to population establishment is critical for successful control and eradication. For example, Burmese pythons occupy thousands of square kilometers of mostly inaccessible habitats.

Flow cytometry is a technique for rapidly analyzing large numbers of animal cells using light-scattering, fluorescence, and absorbance measurements.

May 23, 2016 – Five teams of fishery biologists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the National Park Service (NPS), Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH), University of Florida (UF), and Florida International University (FIU) sampled 12 sites for non-native fishes in Broward and Miami-Dade counties in southeastern Florida.

The interior marshes of the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge (TTINWR) are currently negatively impacted by sea level rise through saltwater intrusion from the south which furthers mangrove encroachment into the freshwater marsh.

The Picayune Strand Restoration Project (PSRP) is in the process of restoring pre-drainage hydrology to the southwest portion of the Greater Everglades ecosystem.

The decline of mammal populations in Everglades National Park (ENP) over the last 20 years is likely to influence the ecology of the Everglades system and the likelihood of successful Everglades restoration.

The establishment and proliferation of exotic plants and animals can interfere with native ecological processes and can cause severe stress to sensitive ecosystems.