Hydrilla Florida Waterways Case Study

Did you know it will take about $1 billion to fix the Everglades ecosystem? When foreign settlers came to the Everglades, they drained the water for farmland. As the population grew, people upset its ecosystem and it was nearly drained entirely. As the water supply lessons and more construction is done, animals’ habitats are destroyed. When the supply of the water is drained, many bad things can happen, such as the water being introduced to chemicals that could kill organisms and animals habitats are being destroyed.

This program design creates the national plan for invasive species management by prioritizing resource allocation toward targeting those invasive species that cause the greatest cost in the form of monetary damage. This method will use the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s estimates for economic losses caused by invasive species (Pimentel, Zuniga, and Morrison, 2005). Such costs include the cost to repair damaged infrastructure such as water systems and power grids, the loss of food crops outcompeted by invasive species, and lost local income when invasive species decimate

(Babbitt, 2007), (Dedekorkut 2003) Both the federal and state agencies, along the American people are dedicated to clean-up the water flows in the Everglades. With this, the Everglades Restoration, as Babbitt points-out, is an example of a national commitment to large scale restoration of degraded ecosystems (Babbitt 2007). However , currently, both the public and the political culture rely heavily on natural resource science for answers the many phenomena that exist in water resource policy.

Florida has more introduced species of reptiles and amphibians in the wild than anywhere else in the world, causing the native populations to become unbalanced (University of Florida, 2012).

The Maryland ecosystem is being ravaged by several invasive species. These species are introduced into the ecosystem in several ways, with several discoveries of invasive species every year. Whether it be Wavyleaf basketgrass or Purple loosestrife, these plants are capable of outcompeting with native plants and causing devastation to the native ecosystem. These invasive species are damaging to the environment and we should work as a community to halt the spread and limit its impact on the ecosystem of Maryland.

To assist with conversation, the Everglades have been divided by the government into two regions with two purposes. The northern area is reserved for agriculture, primarily sugarcane, and the lower portion has been turned into a historical national park (“Why Should I..”, 2013). The parts that are not included in the preservation constantly face battles against development and even more destruction; thousands of miles of the Everglades are not included in or protected by it’s natural park status. Only 22 of the 56 endangered species are protected in the national parks (Sart, 2015).

In Florida, have you ever wonder where your water comes from? Well, the everglades provides water to 7 million people who live here In Florida. Also have u asked yourself, do your ever think our water supply could ever stop? The everglades water supply is losing its water and it’s affecting the park and it’s causing problems too.

The Everglades Restoration Plan is the policy to increase the flow of clean water to the Everglades, in an effort to protect the environment, provide for recreational activities, and supply South Florida with a clean supply of potable water. At a cost of more than $10.5 billion and with a 35+ year time-line, this is the largest hydrologic restoration project ever undertaken in the United States. The Federal Government approved Florida’s landmark water quality project that, once constructed, all parties agree will provide the clean water the Everglades need (Scott, 2013). The Everglades restoration has been hampered by decades of futile bickering over how to decide the most rational approach to restoring the flow of water to the Everglades.

Maintaining ecological diversity is necessary for the survival of a biological community. In the United States, American citizens are on the verge of irrevocably damaging one of the country's most unique and diverse treasures - the Florida Everglades. This national park is now the only remaining patch of a river that used to span 120 miles from Lake Okeechobee to the Florida Bay. Dikes and levees created by the Army Corps of Engineers in the late 1940's drained this river to reduce flooding and increase useable water for the development of the region. This major diversion of water lead to a trickle down effect causing the continual decline of the environmental state of the Everglades. Since then, debates over the

Florida, a treasure trove of many, many species of animals and diverse wildlife. How many of those, ‘Florida’ species are actually native to Florida though? If you walk outside you will probably see lizards everywhere, you know, the brown ones. Well, what if I told you, that they are not actually native to Florida? Those lizards are called Brown Anoles, and they are actually from Cuba and the Bahamas. This is just one example of the many invasive species, which compete with Florida’s native species for food, resources and territories everyday. A few more examples of invasive species that are harmful to our wildlife are the Cuban tree frog, which is a threat to not only other frogs but toads and lizards as well, the Burmese python, which is invading the everglades, and the air potato, which is slowly creeping its way up through Florida, tree to tree.

There are many invasive species that populate Florida. An invasive species is defined as a plant, animal, or fungus that has come to occupy a location aside from its native grounds. Often times, because Florida is not their homeland, these animals play a negative part in the ecosystem. Because of this, the citizens affected are often forced to seek means of removing these animals to eliminate their negative effects. The Burmese Python, the Green Iguana, and the Wild Boar are just a few examples of some of the invasive species that can be found in Florida.

There are many different problems with invasive species. The burmese python is a danger to Florida’s National State Park. They reached the National Park by becoming pets. In the 1990’s they use to be

There are many invasive species in Florida, which affect the environment in many ways. First, one way is that the animal cannot thrive in its new environment, the reasons being; not enough food or the wrong climate. Another example would be, that the animal might thrive successfully and reproduce. This is detrimental to the environment because the animal or plant can wreak havoc and become an invasive species. Species can become invasive due to the lack of predators in its environment.

The issue that has to do with this bill is the environment. This bill from 2015 says that water and air pollution is harmful to the Florida atmosphere. The bill says the “public policy of this to conserve waters,” and that “air pollution control programs” are now considered necessities in Florida.

The specific species this paper will focus on are the Burmese python (Python bivittate), the Lionfish (Pterois), and the Brazilian pepper tree (schinus terebinthifolius). These specific invasive species have been chosen for their diversity in the animal kingdom and their large impact on the Florida Everglades and Florida’s ecosystem. These species all negatively impacted the host environments. The different types of harm caused by these species include overpopulation from no predator in new location cause for invading rural areas that can either be dangerous, disruptive, or both. The species can consume others species to the point of imbalance in natural species population or out eat species food for survival. This paper will include a detailed description of each species including, previous location, specific new location/environment, population, and specific problem. With this collection of information, it will be discussed that the actions taking place to help fix these devastating problems and will discuss how new solutions can be implemented or discussed to help aid the situation.