TEDEd: Invasion of the Everglades (Alligators/BurmesePythons

Biodiversity is...

• the study of animal behavior in the wild
• the process of photosynthesis in plants
• the impact of climate change on weather patterns
• the variety of life in a particular habitat or ecosystem

In the 1500s, Spanish colonizers brought what wild animal to Florida, which quickly multiplied and disturbed the wetlands?

• Burmese pythons

• WIld boar

• Pirhanas

• Parakeets

Plants can be invasive just like animals. What plant grew so much that it clogged some of Florida’s rivers?

• Brazilian peppertree

• Water hyacinth

• White tegus

• Melaleuca trees

During the wet season, alligators are constantly shaping the muddy landscape. Which of the following is NOT a benefit of these gator holes?

• they provide water for other animal

• they create a natural firebreak

• they protect other residents of the swamp

• they trip the alligator's prey

Since the 1992 invasion of the pythons, there has been a(n) ___ decrease in some local mammal populations, decimating the alligators’ food supply.

• 10%

• 40%

• 80%

• 90%

After Marjory Stoneman Douglas’s book was published, the Everglades National Park was established to formally begin protecting the landscape and its scaly stewards. But outside the park, conditions were brewing for the most dangerous invasion yet. Over the next 40 years, what had the largest negative effect on the Everglades?

• The exotic pet trade

• Draining the swamp

• Invasive plants

• Europian parasites