Introduction
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
…show more content…
Truman / Address At Dedication of Everglades National Park (Carr, 1981)
Nearly as large as the state of New Jersey, the Everglades used to measure about 6,000 square miles (Bucks, 1998). The Everglades was a complex wetland consisting of a mosaic of ecosystems. The heart of the Everglades was a slow moving body of water with a span of one hundred twenty miles long and forty miles wide with an average depth of six inches to two feet of water (Lauber,1973). This broad shallow, often called the "river of grass," was covered in a blanket of saw grass (not actually a grass but a sedge) that slowly drained the water from its main source, Lake Okeechobee, all the way to the southernmost tip of the state and into the Florida Bay. Shaped much like a saucer, when full Lake Okeechobee would send its overflow spilling into the shallows of the Everglades river. This natural filling process, along with the wet season's rains, is what fed the flow of the Everglades and the underlying aquifers for centuries.
The grass in the Everglades was very important to the evolution of the land and the water. It rooted itself in the soft limestone that arose from the ocean bottom from an accumulating deposition of seashells. The saw grass prospered and went through the seasonal death and rebirth, covering the limestone with its decaying leaves. A spongy mass of peat then arose from the decay soaking up the rains in the wet season
To begin with, Florida's Everglades is important because a large population of animals live in the Everglades. Many animals live at the Everglades for shelter and food. In the food chain a variety of species and plants rely on each other. The food chain allows biodiversity into the ecosystem. " Biodiversity is a good thing. Having many different kinds of plants and animals means that species have different choices for survival... if, for instance, snakes could only eat rabbits, and hawks could only eat snakes- then both snakes and hawks would die out...." In accordance with this piece of
One hundred years ago the Everglades covered close to 4 million acres between Lake Okeechobee and the Gulf of Mexico. Billions of gallons of water flowed into the Everglades. The population of the East coast of Florida was 23,000. This was partially due to a lack of suitable land for housing because of periodic flooding and the threat of hurricanes. When Florida was first becoming settled there were many attempts by settlers to make the area more hospitable. Most of these attempts failed. It was after two devastating hurricanes (1926 and 1928) that the Federal government had the US Army Corps of Engineers create a system of canals, levies, and dikes to further development of that area. They diverted much of the normal southward flow of water eastward. This allowed 1.3 million acres to be developed. It also left 2 million acres for the Everglades National Park and water conservation areas. 1 million acres was left for agricultural use (Everglades Agricultural
The Everglades National Park protects the largest wild life area east of the Mississippi River. The Everglades are the largest remaining sub-tropical wild life area in 48 states sitting on 1.5 million acres preserved at Florida’s tip off shore. The Everglades contain various ecosystems such as rivers, lakes ponds, marshes, etc. These wild life areas feature both fresh and saltwater areas, open prairies, pine rock lands, tropical hardwood forests, offshore coral reefs, and mangrove forests. This paper will summarize how humans contributed to the destruction of the Everglades and how man is working to save the Everglades. Since the Everglades is comprised of both fresh and saltwater areas the vast range of wildlife species in the Everglades include but not limited to reptiles, mammals, aquatic birds, etc. The vast spectrum of wildlife living in the Florida Everglades include but not limited to aquatic animals, mammals, reptiles, etc. Of this vast spectrum of wildlife living in the Florida Everglades there are 56+ species who are either endangered or are in jeopardy of being endangered. The Everglades are home to two National Parks, four National Wildlife Refuges, and one National Marine Sanctuary that bring almost 2 million visitors every year to experience this natural beauty located minutes from Miami Florida. The powerful environmental forces of sun, water, wind, and fire greatly affect the development and lifecycles of these
With an impressive 23 feet in length, and weighing 200 pounds, the Burmese python is taking up the Everglades space. It’s no wonder animals around here go missing. What exactly is the reason they’re in the Everglades? Why are they everywhere? Well they have no natural predators, there’s way too many of them, and they are dramatically changing the number of animals.
First and foremost, a main reason why the water supply to the everglades is having a bad effect, is because of all of the past draining. As stated in source 1 (The Florida Everglades) it says “From 1905-1910 , the settlers coverted the land… the Everglades were nearly drained entirely.” This shows that these new settlers wanted to get rid of the Everglades completely. As a result to their actions the Florida lost 50% of the wildlife’s population and diversity. This also included the subtropical wilderness of the Everglades. Which contained grassy marshes, hardwood hammocks, and mangrove forests. The draining of the Everglades was only one of the reasons why that the water supply on the park is bad.
The everglades is a place where nature is free in it’s paradise, besides the fact that there are hundreds of issues. The Everglades is home to many types of wildlife, and also provides for humans. The water supply has dramatically affected everyone, and everything, not all of it good. Water issues have affected the Everglades, and Florida by decreasing wildlife, droughts, and money issues.
The Everglades, a vast wetlands ecosystem made up of marshes and swamps, begins at Lake Okeechobee, a large lake in the center of Florida, and ends in the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Bay. It is nearly 50 miles across and 110 miles long (Hinrichsen), and when viewed from the air, appears to be miles and miles of shallow water flowing through thick mats of grass. This perception has earned it the name “River of Grass”. Although it does flow like a river, the flow is so incredibly slow that, from a distance, it doesn’t seem to move at all.
The Everglades is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States. The Everglades is a rough terrain landscape which is home for many rare and endangered species like the manatee, american crocodile, and the elusive florida panther. Those animals and possibly part of Florida's human population. Because work crews began draining the Everglades water towards farms and cities the Everglades vast stock of water is slowly decreasing. This is bad because The Everglades water source is the greatest source of drinking water to
The Everglades is a subtropical wilderness with hardwood hammocks, mangrove forests, along with grass marshes. The Florida Everglades used to be a home for many endangered species, that was until the sudden changes in the environment. The Everglades are facing water-related issues, such as its problems with the water supply. There are issues facing recent attempts to improve the water supply, and some history on the Everglades.
The Everglades can be fixed it may take time and effort but it can be done.In "Are the Everglades Forever?" They state that "Every year, the Everglades lose some of their water to the coast simply by draining from the wetlands to the sea. The water loss is more than the ecosystem can keep up with..." And with the shortage of water in the Everglades means people that live off of the water in the Everglades with suffer a shortage of water as well. In article 1 they say that " CERP will restore a lot of the water by opening up unused dams and filling in old canals to help redirect water flow back to the wetlands." Plants and animals have resilience or the ability to recover from harm. Stated in "Are the Everglades Forever". If people work hard enough we can change the Everglades back to what it used to
Without the Florida Everglades it would be harder get fresh water and most of the endangered species will go extinct. The pythons can reach up to 20 in length and going
The Everglades was once a lush, green wilderness home to many endangered species. Now it is a drained swampland with half of its wildlife wiped out. One change made a big impact on this wetland. Many people are working hard to save the Everglades before it’s too late.
The everglades is a portion of a large watershed that runs in the locale of Orlando. The restoration of the everglades has been an ongoing program to remedy the damage done on the environment during the 20th century in southern Florida. It is the most comprehensive and costly attempt to repair environment in history. The degradation of the everglades watershed became an issue in the US in 1770s after the construction of a jetport in the big cypress swamp was proposed. The studies that followed showed that the port would destroy the ecosystem in everglades national park and south Florida (Ogden 803). After a long time of destructive practices, the federal and state agencies have been looking for ways to create an equilibrium of the ecosystem
In fact there are an estimated 7,800 lakes in Florida that are at least an acre in size, according to Bridget Cohen of the Orlando Parks Examiner. Two-thirds of those lakes are located within the four counties that surround Orlando. With so many lakes, whether man-made or natural, there are abundant species of wildlife that count on these lakes in and around Orlando. Writing in the United States Geological Survey publication, "Hydrology of Central Florida Lakes," Donna M. Schiffer
The current dilemmas of the Everglades, is that the water supply. Of the original wetlands, only 50% remain meaning the rare and specific species of animals are decreasing and endangered animals are very common rather than scarce. Moreover, during the construction, the fresh water was cut off. As stated in Source 1, “Past and Present: The Florida Everglades”, “As a result, the quantity and diversity of the wetland wildlife decreased and 50% of the original wetlands of South Florida no longer exist today.” With this statement given, preservation of the Natural wetlands as well as inhabiting the wetlands, deeply relies on the supply of water.