THE EVERGLADES: RIVER OF GRASS
The Everglades, also known as the River of Grass, is one of South Florida's most treasured areas. It is an area still full of wonder and mystery. The Everglades is lined with a specific type of limestone bedrock formed by tiny organisms called byrozoans. These animals, though not related to coral, act like coral by extracting dissolved limestone from the sea water around them and using it to construct protective chambers in which to live. They then attach to various kinds of sea grasses on the ocean floor and coat them as well. Individual chambers combine together to form rock-like structures. Over thousands of years, when South Florida was completely submerged, a vast amount of this limestone
…show more content…
Another important piece of the Everglades puzzle is periphyton (a cyanobacteria or algae) that provides the basis for the Everglades food chain and helps purify the water. Periphyton provides both food and oxygen for the aquatic ecosystem. Just like alligator holes, periphyton is also important during the dry season because of their ability to retain water.
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
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
The Everglades restoration project, which established to clean up ecosystems and waterways for both current and future generations, has encountered many difficulties stemming from either damage that has been done to the environment was in a fact a result of mother-nature, or a result from the activities pursued by mankind. The case involving the South Florida Water Management District can be argued to have been caused by the agencies' activities within the
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
A concrete network of canals was designed to bring water from the lake area to surrounding farmland in the dry season. Florida was becoming a booming area and more people came and more acres of the Everglades were cleared for farms, ranches, housing, roads, and railways. And more and more; the Everglades were dying (Miami Museum of Science, 1995).
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.
Just like Shenandoah the Iapetus ocean started to open separating land masses Laurentia and Gondwana as Florida’s basement rock comes from the Gondwana region. Within the Neoproterozoic there is granitoids and igneous rocks that are found in central and northeastern part of Florida as evidence of Florida being part of Gondwana(M.C. Smith, written communication, 2017). In Figure 2, Findings of minerals such as schists and quartz
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
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 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
Pythons have been making the Everglades their home even though their unwanted visitors. Florida isn't a natural habitat for pythons or anacondas . So the way they have survived has been messing with the natural food chain . As said here from the article Are the Everglades Forever? , second page 1st paragraph it states "They’ve managed to upset the natural food chain so drastically …...". The snakes have been decreasing the number of rabbits , bobcats, opossums, and foxes. So they have come to competition with gators for food . Sometimes the gator becomes the meal. By things like this taking place they are taking a negative toll on the balance of food or the food chain in the Everglades .
The location of the first national park known for its impressive landscape,native animals, plants, and environment is located in the southern tip of Florida. The Florida Everglades is known for the animals and how they preserve the Everglades. The Florida everglades is the, “largest subtropical wetlands ecosystems” in North America ( Here are 20 Facts About Florida’s Everglades).
Groundwater is the largest and most available usable source of drinking water in the state. There is a vast and mysterious system of caves and natural springs in North Central Florida. The cave system within the aquifer is one of the most amazing parts. The caves are remarkable in many ways. They are among the deepest and longest in the world, let alone the U.S. Another amazing aspect of the system is the purity of the water. The springs collectively produce billions of gallons of crystal clear water per day. The whole system stems from the Florida Aquifer that rests under the entire state. When most people think of Florida, they think of the weather and the beaches, but its the springs and the whole water
As the deer fed at the marsh's edge, it's tail flickering as it nibbled tender and ripe green growth. Then the nervous animal pauses in it's feeding and lifted its head to listen. Whatever hint of danger the deer had sensed was ignored once the threat could not be located. It stamped a forefoot, lowered its head and began to eat once more, this deer had failed to detect a Florida panther that was downwind (going into the wind) crouched low in the underbrush. Amber eyes however, estimated the distance between himself and the deer. Then at the right moment attacked the deer, with bounds at over twenty feet at a time the panther exploded out of the underbrush pouncing on the deer and forcing it to the ground. Within fifteen seconds that
-Dan failed to fully utilize high profile networks of Scott and Henry, who were both graduates of an Ivy League School (Did Scott graduate from Ivy League School?). Also, Dan did not try to reach out to his network he established while he was buying and selling airplanes. Even if there was no one interested in their direct network, perhaps someone in their network knew someone who might be interested. Scott later contacted his 100 alumni later but rather passively; instead of calling to actively initiate a conversation, he mailed out information.