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Wetlands range depending on where they are located, but no matter where they are located they are all very similar. Wetlands are areas in which water covers the soil for most, or all, of the year. This includes the growing season, which means that animals and plants living in these areas adapt in order to survive in such wet conditions. Wetlands support a wide range of aquatic life and sometimes are label “biological supermarkets” as they include high levels of plant and species diversity. The Everglades are located on the southern tip of Florida (as shown in the map) and are one of the prime examples of a wetland. Even though the Everglades are richly diverse and unique there are many environmental problems. These problems are located in the “Environmental Factors of the Everglades” and not only effect the Everglades, but wetlands in general. If these problems continue to occur than wetlands will start to cease to exist.
What are the Everglades:
Environmental Factors of the Everglades:
Even though the Everglades is a very beautiful place, it suffers from many environmental problems. The two biggest problems that the Everglades suffer
from, would be disturbed lands, including air quality, and invasive species. Invasive species are becoming a larger problem in this area as they are changing the environment in which the reside in. These organisms can cause catastrophic changes to the ecosystem - effecting not only the areas around them, but the overall existence of the Everglades. While the Everglades National Park, along with the Wildlife Conservation Commission, have aggressively tired to control these nonnative species it is going to take a long time before these species become manageable to the point where they don’t exist in the Everglades. The Burmese Python is the prime example of a nonnative species in the Everglades. In this year alone so far, 347 pythons were removed in and around the Everglades National Park. The reason that this is a problem is because humans, sometimes without realizing it, introduce this animals into the area thinking it is no big deal. What they fail to realize is that these species usually do more harm than good. If uncontrolled these species will continue to grow, in which case it may be too late. The second environmental problem of the Everglades would be the disturbed lands. The lands around the Everglades is becoming more populous which is not only introducing nonnative plants, but also causing the water to become less healthy. In many areas the run-off of humans is ﬂowing directly into the Everglades. This is a problem as it is polluting the waters - which leads to unﬁt conditions for animals and plants. The main reason for this, is also because humans are developing more land around the Everglades. Human actions such as mining, logging, dredging and stream channelization, deposition of ﬁll material and diking and damming are some of the reasons why the wetlands are decreasing in size. Pollution is increasing in this area, making it harder for animals and plants to thrive. Overall, the most signiﬁcant impact to the living things in the biome would be the human inﬂuence. Humans are the many reasons why the state of the Everglades is changing. They are not only causing pollution, but they are also introducing nonnative animals, which leads to the food web and cycle to be disrupted. Humans are causing the Everglades to decrease in size, because as more developments go up there is less land for the animals that live in this environment. In conclusion the environmental factors of the Everglades are directly because of humans. If humans continue to pollute and develop areas surrounding the Everglades, the Everglades will continue to decrease in size and species diversity.
The Everglades are home to a wide range of plants, each very different and distinct. Because the southern tip of Florida has such optimal growing conditions, this allows many different types of plants to grow. Because the Everglades are a wetland, the plants in this area like to grow in moist, humid conditions. These conditions are perfect for plants such as duckweed, pond lilies, cattail, sedges, mangroves, cypress and willows. Even though there are a wide range of plants in the Everglades, just like the animals, many of these plants are also invasive. Because of this is creates a competition for natural resources, that would otherwise not have existed. This creates problems as the nonnative plants continue to grow wiping out the native plants that are important to the animals in this environment. Many of these plants are also only found in the Everglades and if we were to lose these plants then we would be losing plants that are very important to this speciﬁc environment.
Vegetation in the Everglades
Animals in the Everglades
The Everglades support a wide, diverse, range of
animals. These animals are distinct to their wetland environment and range from very small amphibians, such as the Florida Cricket Frog to large mammals, such as the Florida Panther. These animals are very important to this environment as it creates a fully functioning ecosystem in which all of the organisms are dependent on each other. Even though a wide range of animals ﬁnd refugee in the Everglades, many of these animals are invasive. This does not help the the Everglades as it creates competition between species, for resources, that otherwise would not have existed. The Everglades are perfect for all types of species - which makes it easy for nonnative species to thrive. Domestic animals are the main type of invasive animal found in the Everglades. With over 300 species of ﬁsh, 40 mammals, 50 reptiles and 360 different types of birds the Everglades truly is a unique area. Many of these animals are only found in the Everglades and are considered to be endangered or threatened. The picture above is
of a Florida panther; they are considered to be endangered in the Florida.
Climate and Geographic Factors that Contribute to Environmental Problems: (Why they are important) Overall wetlands are very important to the area in which they are located. They provide a variety of functions
Social and Political Problems:
There are many political and social problems
surrounding the Everglades. As the Everglades continue to be developed on it creates a problem for the scientists and naturalists who want to preserve and protect the Everglades. Currently, the Everglades Restoration project is taking steps to preserve and return this wetland to its natural state. Even though this project is helping the Everglades, it is going to take over 30 years to ﬁnish, with millions of dollars of investment. Currently Florida’s government it working to achieve a resolution that both parties, the conversationalists and developers will beneﬁt.
including, natural water control, ﬂood protection, shoreline erosion control and an opportunities for recreation at no cost. These are important qualities of wetlands because it helps cut costs of over wise needed necessities to prevent damage to human subdivisions. Some wetlands provide ﬁsh harvests which can be a big source of income. It is also known that around one-third of the animals living in the United States Wetlands are endangered or threatened. The reason why there are environmental problems is mostly because of the perfect conditions that the Everglades provide for animals and plants. This, without meaning to, causes plants and animals that are nonnative to be able to adapt and thrive in the Everglades. The Everglades water climate and abundance, or so it seems, of space allows these animals to create a habitat for themselves. While this is good, it can lead to huge populations of these invasive species which can harm the environment. Also for humans, these areas are ideal for them as a warm area to live. Because these spots are ideal for humans it creates a need for more sub divisions - leading the Everglades to start to shrink in size to ﬁt the growing population.
Projected Outlook of the Wetlands (including the Everglades) in 20 Years:
The overall outlook of the wetlands in the next 20 years is not very good. Because wetlands are already being slighting ruined because of
natural causes, humans actions only speed up the process. If humans continue to develop and destroy the wetlands they soon will not be around which leads to a wide range of animals and plants being wiped out too. Even though not all wetlands are being developed on, human pollution can cause the wetlands to become not tolerable for animals and plants - leading to wetlands dying out. Speciﬁcally the Everglades, as the climate increases and due to its location it will mostly likely feel the impacts from climate change ﬁrst. This will thus not only effect the Everglades directly, by killing the unique species and ecosystem, but it also will effect it indirectly for the humans that make their living off working in and around the Everglades. If we, being humans, continue down this path of no consideration for the wetlands then we will lose a very important competent of our Earth. Protection and conservation must occur in order for the wetlands to survive. The wetlands are very important as they provide a wide range of uses to animals, plants and humans. Without them, we are not only effecting the animals and plants living in this area but we are effecting ourselves!
Geography and Climate The climate and the geography located in the Everglades is very unique as it is similar to the temperate of both North America and the tropical Caribbean. Because of this the area hosts a wide range of organisms. The Everglades usually ranges in temperature from 53-77 degrees F through December to April. While in the summer they become hot and humid with temperatures around 90 degrees F. This area witnesses an abundance of hurricanes - with a hurricane season from June to November. Many tropical storms and hurricanes effect this area. This area also receive a lot of rain fall (about 60 inches per year) from June to October. All this rainfall thus makes the area very wet. The Everglades are very low in elevation as they are located on the tip of the Florida peninsula. Overall, the Everglades is a prime example of a wetland.
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