iNaturalist and Early Detection & Distribution Mapping System provide complementary data for monitoring non-native herpetofauna in Florida

Florida hosts one of the world’s highest concentrations of non-native herpetofaunal species, making it a critical setting for understanding invasion dynamics. As citizen science becomes increasingly integrated into invasive species monitoring, there has been a growing focus on the research potential of individual platforms. This study compares two biodiversity reporting platforms, iNaturalist and Early Detection & Distribution Mapping System (EDDMapS), providing novel insights into detection biases and data complementarity. Data availability was compared between EDDMapS and iNaturalist as a function of species traits using generalized linear models, human population density level using a generalized linear model with a binomial distribution and spatial coverage of species using minimum convex polygons. EDDMapS reported proportionally more species of higher maximum body mass than iNaturalist. iNaturalist yielded more introduced herpetofauna observations across more Florida counties, in urban areas, whereas EDDMapS reported greater species richness, reflecting the database’s inclusion of professional rapid response reports and broader coverage of non-urban habitats. While total observations were strongly associated with species range size, EDDMapS exhibited significantly larger grid-based ranges than iNaturalist, indicating broader spatial coverage when controlling for observations. Our results suggest that using both platforms in one easy-access system—EDDMapS’s professional reports for early detection and iNaturalist’s high-volume observations for long-term monitoring—could be effective for comprehensive management.