Everglades National Park

Everglades National Park

SCI/230

Introduction

The Everglades are the subtropical wetlands in the southern part of Florida in the United States and the southern half of the massive watershed. Bounded by the Gulf of Mexico, the Tamiami Trail, and the Florida Keys, the Everglades are the largest designated subtropical wilderness reserve on the North American continent. The Everglades are also often called "River of Grass" which describes the water system stretching from the middle of Florida peninsula, flowing through Kissimmee River and Late of Okeechobee, and reaching Florida Bay. Situated at the juncture of subtropical wetlands, coastal, and marine environments, the Everglades provides various water habits for large number of animals. Such diverse plant and animal life forms constitute the complex ecosystems in the Everglades (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2011, U.S. Geological Survey, 2011, & U.S. National Park Service, 2011).

The diversity of animal life forms

The Everglades are the home for the diverse array of animals, encompassing the species from the Caribbean tropics as well as the species from temperate North America, including life forms of amphibians, birds, fishes, mammals, and reptiles (U.S. National Park Service, 2011).

The most commonly seen amphibians in the Everglades are frogs, toads, and salamanders. They usually stay in the areas between land and water and are characterized by their unique and noisy chorus (U.S. National Park Service, 2011).

More than 360 different bird species have been sighted in the Everglades. They are usually categorized into three groups of wading birds, land birds, and birds of prey. There are 16 species of wading birds reside in the Everglades which make Everglades have the greatest concentration of wading birds on the North American continent. All of them have long legs to wade into water and catch foods. The most commonly seen ones are the white ibis, the great blue heron, and the snowy egret etc. There are approximately 200 species land birds which spend most of their lives in drier areas of the Everglades, such as warblers, cardinals, and bluejays. Roughly 60% of the land birds are migratory which only visit the Everglades when the climate and food conditions are good. The third group of bird in the Everglades is the birds of prey, including hawks, owls, and eagles etc. They use the hooked beak and claws to catch their foods from the ground, such as lizards and snakes (Uhler, 2007 & U.S. National Park Service, 2011).

Fish plays an important role in the food web in the Everglades. The 300 species of fish live in the freshwater marches as well as the marine coastline provide the main food sources for larger fish, birds, alligators, and even human. Florida gar, mosquitofish, and least killifish etc. are all parts of the aquatic life in the Everglades (U.S. National Park Service, 2011).

There are over 40 species of mammals inhabit the Everglades. Although these mammals prefer drier lands and fields, most of them have developed certain abilities to adapt to the unique semi-aquatic environment in Everglades, such as wading and swimming. Rabbits, dears, opossums, raccoons, otters, and fox are commonly seen mammals in the Everglades (U.S. National Park Service, 2011).

Probably the most well-known habitants of the Everglades are reptiles, including the most famous one - American Alligator. There are more than 50 different kinds of reptiles live in the park, including crocodiles, alligators, lizards, snakes, and turtles (Uhler, 2007 & U.S. National Park Service, 2011).

The diversity of plant life forms

Plant life forms that can be found in the Everglades include lichens, marshes, tree islands, hammocks, orchids, bromeliads, ferns, and mangroves. Lichens are a composite of algae and fungi which exist on all kinds of substances in the terrestrial habitats of the Everglades, such as soil, rock, leaves, and tree bark. Marshes are the aquatic plans that live in the water, such as sawgrass marsh. Tree islands are small forests of shrubs and trees that live in the wetland. The most common ones are dominated by bay, willow and cypress. Mangroves are the coastal plants that live in the interface of saline water and the freshwater and are one of the significant symbols of the Everglades. In addition, orchids, bromeliads, and ferns are also important members of the subtropical environments of the Everglades (Uhler, 2007 & U.S. National Park Service, 2011).

Greater Everglades Ecosystems

Based on the locations and environmental characteristics, eight distinct habitats have been identified in the Everglades. Each habitant provides unique resources to support its plants and animal communities (U.S. National Park Service, 2011).

Ecosystem: Marine & Estuarine

This area contains the 850 square mile Florida Bay which includes the ocean as well as the estuary. Much of the area is covered by seagrass and algae, which provide shelters and foods for numerous marine organisms. Many species of gamefish, corals, sponges, crustaceans, and molluscs are the habitants of the area and are critical to the food chain of the ecosystem. Florida Bay is also the home to some reptiles, such as American crocodiles and green sea turtles, as well as certain marine mammals, such as West Indian manatees and Atlantic bottle-nose dolphins (U.S. Geological Survey, 2011 & U.S. National Park Service, 2011).

Ecosystem: Cypress

Cypress is a deciduous conifer that can grow in muddy areas and survive in standing water. In Everglades, Cypress ecosystem is usually found in the wet environments such as prairies and sloughs. It is common to find cypress cluster growing in the dome shape (large tress in the middle with smaller trees around) and cypress strands growing in the leaner shape (trees parallel with the water flow) to thrive against the poor growing conditions. Ferns, orchids, moss and air plants often grow on the cypress trees. Wading birds would be the major characteristic of this ecosystem (U.S. Geological Survey, 2011 & U.S. National Park Service, 2011).

Ecosystem: Prairies

The prairies ecosystem is present between the sloughs and the dry lands of the Everglades, and includes both coastal