Okeechobee Sea

All of the wildlife in the Everglades is totally dependent on the cycling of water. One example of this dependence is the feeding relationship between the

The changes in the Everglades’ hydrologic systems have greatly impacted Florida and its environment. Systems have been put into place and adapted in order to best fit the muggy and wet climate of South Florida as well as efficiently clean and revitalize our water quality. Due to the changes that humans have made to the Everglades and our water systems, our surrounding natural habitats and its flora and fauna have been greatly impacted.

The first way that the water supply affects the everglades is that it kills off many of the species of plants and animals that live there.Polluted or not enough water can affect the animal population, as mentioned in source 1, (Past and Present: The Florida Everglades) paragraph 1 where it says,

Human Development is the reason why Florida has water-supply problems. In the nineteenth century, the Everglades submerged more than half of Florida’s 36 million acres in clean, fresh water (43). Our water supply problems commenced when the SFWMD and the Army Corps of Engineers began draining and paving over the everglades in the early twentieth century. With concrete covering the ground, the 150 billion gallons of rainfall received has since been unable to filter down into the ground and replenish the aquifer. Instead that rainfall becomes run-off. The run-off does not return into natural watersheds,

Cardno has assembled for you a team of experts in aquatic ecology, hydrologic modeling, data management and interpretation, statistical analysis, botany, wetland science, wildlife ecology, restoration, Geographic Information Systems, and environmental planning. Staff from our Tallahassee office, where this project will be managed, have successfully completed hundreds of projects in northwest Florida including contracts with the District, as well as the Suwannee River Water Management District, state agencies, and other municipal clients. Many of the staff included in this proposal are experts in their respective fields with advanced degrees and decades of experience working in water resources in Florida.

In more recent times, the interactions of people and the landscape have influenced the landscape and the life that depends on it. Swampland has been drained, cleared and cultivated, roads have been constructed, and homesteads established. Wildfires were stopped and non-native vegetation was introduced. Pollutants have also degraded water quality. Non-native

Growing up in one of the most biologically diverse estuaries in North America impacted my perception on nature from my first thought until now as a young adult. If you are from the south most people get a glimpse of how pretty Florida is but unless you fish, very few people get to check out the Indian River Lagoon. This massive body of water stretches whopping 156 miles and surprisingly takes up over 30% of Florida’s east coast. Here the Atlantic collides with fresh water and creates an epic battling ground for fisherman and a lovely home for more than 2000 animal species (SJWM). I fortunately have had access to this wonderful estuary thanks to my grandparents. They moved into the developing town of satellite beach early on and bought property

An ecosystem is the inclusion of all living and nonliving things, in a given area, interacting with one another. Each organism in the ecosystem has a specific role to play. Anytime, an external factor is introduced to an ecosystem there is a chance of a disaster or possible threat of a disaster. Unfortunately ecosystems have been destroyed or disrupted by volcano eruptions, floods, storms, and fires. Sadly, activity of humans has contributed negative affects to the disturbance of countless ecosystems. Nevertheless, Louisiana is known for their abundance of wetlands, and swamps, Louisiana’s fragile wetlands cover 10,000 square miles. Marshes, swamps, and bayous extend 30 miles inland from the mouth of the Mississippi river, and represent 10

The Florida Everglades are found in the southern part of the state of Florida, this environment and ecosystem begins near the city Orlando Kissimmee River. The river expands into an enormous and depthless Lake Okeechobee. The Everglades were shaped by water and other natural sources and experience flooding often during the rainy season, and near drought conditions during the dry season. The first human expansion in this area dates back 15,000 years. Humans have affected the biochemical cycles in this ecosystem in very specific detrimental, mostly helpful ways such as canals that were constructed the first half of the 20th century.

Another example is in the Gulf of Mexico….an area called the “dead zone”. This is another example of resources squandered by the tragedy of the commons. As a result of the chemicals and fertilizers used by the farmers in the area and the rain during the winter months would wash the nutrients and chemicals down river to the Gulf of Mexico. This created a dead zone where no sea life can be sustained. This resulted as a direct reslt of over farming an area of historically fertile ground

As an undergraduate I gained substantial field and lab experience, including sediment core sampling, ArcGIS mapping, monitoring fixed seagrass transects in the IRL, and water quality measurements in the IRL and Tampa Bay. These experiences enhanced my research, fieldwork, and laboratory skills. I also developed a research project based on the eastern part of the IRL watershed: “How do anthropogenic disturbances alter bird

Ecosystem services are defined as the direct and indirect benefits to human well being that are derived from ecosystems and ecosystem function (Gomez-Baggethun and Barton 2013, TEEB 2011), or in other words, “the conditions and processes through which natural ecosystems, and the species that make them up, sustain and fulfill human life” (Daily, 1997, p. 3). The ecosystem service framework may be used to assess present day function, monitor change over time, and inform future planning, conservation, and restoration to maximize the ecosystem function and services generated at multiple scales (Daily et al. 2009; Sukhdev et al. 2010).

6) Describe at least three ways in which ecosystem services support human societies. For each one, discuss the measures an/ or technologies that would need to be taken or developed to replace these services if they were no longer provided to us by natural systems. Are there some ecosystem services that cannot be replaced at any cost?

Paul Keddy is an ecologist whose primary concern is wetlands. His approach focused on the state of these wetlands and how they are important to the Earth as well as to the people. By incorporating facts about this specific ecosystem, he emphasizes its preservation and the significance it holds. Wetlands offer carbon storage, flood control, maintenance of biodiversity, fish production, and aquifer recharge as well as other services (Keddy 141). Keddy explains that by decreasing its size, limits and restrictions are placed on these valuable services. Despite the many amenities wetlands provide, there are still many unknown which leaves a huge dilemma because if people aren’t aware of the significance of this particular ecosystem, they won’t care much to try and fight for its conservation. Even the ones that are well known, such as the Mississippi River Basin, which is intensively studied, is “…often treated in isolation, which misses two important scientific opportunities: that of learning from work carried out elsewhere, and that of sharing knowledge” (Keddy 163). His science is one that

This review of current literature attempts to provide the context for the upcoming research and findings. Ecosystem services and Ecosystem-based Management (EBM) will be discussed. The definitions, current methods, benefits, limitations, and challenges will be discussed. The literature review will discuss the unresolved issues or current challenges.