Temporal and Spatial Patterns of Pythons in the Southeastern United States Are Shown. Amount

K. Boyd

Abstract

Temporal and spatial patterns of pythons in the Southeastern United States are shown. Amount of snakes per biome, kernel density, and snakes in the Everglades National Park Region are shown with chloropleth maps.

Conclusion

On the main map, cities with a population over 50,000 people are isolated. All pythons located in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida are shown and appear on the map with time sequence. 536 total pythons were reported from 1995-2013.

The pythons are shown temporally with different colors symbolizing how many snakes arrived in the Southeastern United States within a certain amount of time. The first time period shown is the 1900s. Four pythons were located during this time period. These four pythons are mainly located in the Southern tip of Florida. The second time period was from 2000-2005 and 32 pythons were located during this time period. These snakes were also located mainly in Southern Florida, with an exception of one python recorded in Northern Florida. The third time period shown is from 2006-2010 and 260 pythons were found in this area, which is the highest total of pythons located in all four of the time periods. These snakes were found in Southern Florida; however, many of the snakes were also located in central Florida as well. The last time period was from 2011-2013 and 240 pythons were located during this time period. These snakes were located north of the snakes recorded in the first time period. The number of snakes found during the fourth time period was slightly less than the previous time period of 2006-2010. This could have been because the third time period was a stretch of five years and the fourth time period was only three years. The temporal pattern shows that the snakes generally moved north over the years.

The spatial pattern of the pythons is shown with the different biomes that are located in the Southeastern United States. The farthest north biome is the temperate broadleaf and mixed forest biome; however, no pythons were located in this biome. Thetemperate conifer forest biome, which is also the largest biome in the study area, takes up about one third of Alabama and Georgia, and almost all of Florida. However, only 5% of the snakes were recorded in this biome with only 26 snakes. The next biome is the flooded grasslands and savannas biome. Most of the snakes were located in this biome, with a total of 377 out of 526 snakes. This accounts for 72% of all of the snakes. The next biome was the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. 123 pythons were located in this biome, taking up 23% of the total python population. The last two biomes are located in the most southern regions of Florida, showing that the pythons have migrated from the south. These results might show that the most desirable living area for the pythons is the flooded grasslands and savannas biome.

162 pythons were reported within 100 feet of highways. This means that only 30% of the total snakes recorded were near the highways and 70% were not within 100 feet of the highways.

Only 11 snakes were reported within 100 feet of the hydrolines. This accounts for 2% of the snakes reported, meaning that 98% of the snakes were not within 100 feet of hydrolines.

Most of the pythons were located in or near the Everglades National Park boundary. 82 snakes were within the Everglades Park, which is 15% of the total population. 192 pythons were located within one mile of the Everglades National Park, making up 36% of the snakes. 56 snakes were reported within one to two miles of the Everglades boundary, which is 10% of the total population. 208 pythons were recorded outside of the Everglades Park boundary, which makes up 39% of all of the pythons recorded. These results can be directly related to the biomes in which the snakes prefer. The Everglades National Park is located in the flooded grasslands and savanna biome, which contained the majority of all snakes.

Kernel density is present to show the “hot-spot” for pythons. The most snake-dense area is located in the Southeast region of Florida, in the Miami-Dade County.

Mean center is shown to represent the geographic center point for all of the pythons recorded. This mean center is located in the middle of the southern tip of Florida, also in the Miami-Dade County.

Directional distribution is shown to illustrate the spatial features of the geographic area. This directional distribution generally goes from North-west to South-east.