Non‐Native Herpetofauna Continue to Proliferate in the World's Most Invaded Herpetofauna Community

The spread of non‐native species continues to increase around the globe, highlighting the importance of understanding both the dynamics of the invaded communities in which non‐natives comprise a high percentage of the total fauna and the factors that may influence non‐native establishment and spread. As the global hotspot for non‐native reptiles and amphibians, South Florida's herpetofaunal community provides a unique opportunity to study native/non‐native community dynamics. In addition, despite high levels of development and habitat loss, South Florida has a network of protected natural areas, allowing insight into the impacts of natural vs. anthropogenic areas on native and non‐native richness and abundance. Surveys conducted in Miami‐Dade County in 2017 demonstrated that non‐native species already dominated both natural and anthropogenic parks and provided a baseline to examine dynamic changes in the community. In 2022, we replicated the surveys from 2017 at the same 30 sites. We found that non‐native richness and abundance have increased significantly (19% and 33% increase in overall alpha diversity and abundance, respectively) in just 5 years' time. We found no correlation between these non‐native increases and decreases in either native species richness or abundance. Notably, non‐native species richness increased more rapidly at anthropogenic sites, with two rock‐loving species, Agama picticauda and Leiocephalus carinatus , standing out as the most rapidly spreading non‐native herpetofauna. Our findings demonstrate that there is continued expansion of non‐native herpetofaunal populations even in the highly invaded community of Miami‐Dade County and that protection of natural habitat may help slow the spread of non‐native species.