The Everglades: December 2012

Location

The Everglades are subtropical wetland region located in the southern portion of Florida in the United States. The system begins near the city of Orlando at the Kissimmee River, empties out into Lake Okeechobee, and continues to flow hundreds of miles down to the Florida Bay at the southern-most end of the state. The diverse landscape spans approximately 220 miles from north the south, and across 18,000 square miles. To put the size into context it is about the size of Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware and Rhode Island combined.

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What are the Everglades?

The Everglades is composed of five different habitats, each one with different plants and animals living together. These habitats include hardwood hammock, which includes groups of broad-leafed trees then grow in a similar formation to a hammock. Some of the plants that grow in this area include mahogany, gumbo limbo, and the cocoplum. Animals include the grey fox, various snakes and, toads.

Another habitat in the Everglades is the mangroves. Mangroves thrive where salt water and fresh water mix. Currently the Everglades National Park contains the largest strand of a protected mangrove forest in the hemisphere. Species that live in the area include the red black and white mangroves, along with the American crocodile, various types of birds, and manatee.

The next habitat is pineland. Pineland take root in exposed limestone, and the terrain is composed of slash pine. Various flowers grow in the surrounding area. Fire is essential for the continuous growth of pineland, and the plants are adapted to a life of frequent fires. This area is home to many of the snakes of the Everglades.

Saw grass parries are another familiar habitat to the area. This habitat remains wet for most of the year. As the name states, saw grass is the most dominate plant species of this habitat. Other species include the bladderwort, and the periphyton. This habitat is home to some of the most vast array of birds in the Everglades.

The last habitat of the surrounding area is the freshwater slough. The freshwater slough is a marshy river that channels water through the Everglades. There are two main sloughs of the Everglades, they include the shark river slough, and the taylor slough, which both empty into the Florida Bay. Throughout the sloughs you might see tree islands sprouting sparingly. Animals that dwell in these areas include, alligator, snapping turtles, fish, and otters.

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Hardwood Hammock

http://www.shannontech.com/ParkVision/Everglades/Evg-119.jpg

Mangroves

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/45/Everglades_Pinelands.jpg

Pineland

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Everglades_Sawgrass_Prairie_Moni3.JPG

Saw grass prarie

http://www2.fiu.edu/~jheffer/Images/DSCN3041.JPG

Freshwater slough

The History

At one point in history, the Everglades covered as much as 11,000 square miles of the southern portion of Florida. It was nicknamed the river of grass, as a continuous flow of water flowed from the Kissimmee River into Lake Okeechobee, all the way to the Florida bay. However, in 1905 a governor by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte Broward made a decision to drain portions of the Everglades in order to make them suitable for agriculture, and human development. Cities such as Miami and Fort Lauderdale sprouted, and large areas of swamp were destroyed in order to produce farmland.

In 1948 Congress passed the Central and South Florida Project Exit Disclaimer. This project is still to this day one of the most effective water management systems in the world. It uses various levees and canals to drain water into the ocean. This massive loss of water instantly began to affect the features of the marshland, along with the many species that dwell in the surrounding area. Salt water began to flow farther into the Marshes, and native plants began to be destroyed, foreign plants began to take root, and the continuous cycle of destruction continued. To this day the everglades is about half the size that it used to be.

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Human Impacts

Human activities have seriously altered the state of the Everglades. As the population in the southern portion of Florida has grown, so has the demand for fresh water. Consequently, this water is pumped from the surface of the Everglades, which eliminates the flow of nutrient rich runoffs to many portions of the area. Thousands of acres of swampland have been used for residential and agricultural use, continually reducing water flow.

Along with the need for fresh water, humans are building residential areas throughout the Everglades. If the current trend continues, the Everglades will no longer exist. As more residential areas continue to pop up, pollution of the water increases as runoff from farms and urban areas flows into the Everglades. Due to this the drainage patterns throughout the area have been altered, wildlife has been destroyed, and

systems have been affected.

http://wastedenergy.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/everglades_sprawl.jpgnatural filtration

As you can see from this graph, surface water depths are decreasing.

What can you do to help?

As the country becomes more educated on the harm that humans are having on the Everglades, more and more steps are being taken in order to preserve the beautiful landscape. Among these steps include protecting water quality, providing water storage needs, and restoring the water flow from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades. Various acts have been passed in order to continue the restoration process. I feel that there are two important topics that the country must focus on in order to maintain a positive human impact. These include a continuous education of the damage that is being done to the Everglades, along with various runoff systems in order to clean the water, or find alternative water sources.

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The Future of the Everglades & works cited

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Based on the historical trend that the Everglades have slowly diminished over time, the state of the Everglades does not seem to bright in the future. As population increases, more and more residential, and agricultural establishments will be created. This will destroy much of the Everglades, and contribute to the cycle of pollution and devastation to the area. While actions are being taken in order to preserve the area, and national parks have been set up, the devastation that the Everglades is having is sure to continue.

http://www.evergladesplan.org/everglades_report/sep_oct_2010/images/story1.jpg

As you can see from the picture above, projects are being built in the middle of the Everglades

Works Cited
1. Davis, Steven M., John C. Ogden, and Winifred A. Park. Everglades: The Ecosystem and Its Restoration. Delray Beach, FL: St. Lucie, 1994. Online Book.

2. "Everglades." - National Wildlife Federation. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.nwf.org/wildlife/wild-places/everglades.aspx>.

3. "Everglades-Animals and Habitats." Everglades-Animals and Habitats. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.miamisci.org/ecolinks/everglades/animals.html>.

4. "Florida Coastal Everglades LTER - Everglades History and Culture." Florida Coastal Everglades LTER - Everglades History and Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://fcelter.fiu.edu/about_us/everglades/history_and_culture/>.

5. "Natural Ecosystem." Everglades Restoration. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.dep.state.fl.us/secretary/everglades/>.

6. "Saving the Everglades â€“ Everglades Foundation." Everglades Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/the-everglades/saving-the-everglades/>.

7. "So You Want to Know More About... Plants and Animalsof the Everglades." Plants and Animals of the Everglades. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.evergladesplan.org/facts_info/sywtkma_animals.aspx>.