Data on Environmental Impact

National Geographic

        As a result of all of these treatment plans, over 54,000 acres of land have been converted to water treatment plants, which have served over 45,000 acres of completely treated wetlands. In 2011, over 735,00 acre feet of runoff water was treated, which resulted in a 79% reduction in the phosphorous levels that were seeping into the plants' and animals' habitats (Restoration Report 1). This work combined with many other projects including constructing levees and planting trees have saved many thousands of acres of wetlands, and there are no signs of slowing down. The CERP has released a map of what they hope to get the water flow to look like after their restoration project is over, which you can see here: http://www.evergladesplan.org/education/flowmaps.html

Resources:

            South Florida Water Management District. "Everglades Restoration Progress" November 2011.

            Journey to Restore America's Everglades. "Scienc, Maps, and Data" <http://www.evergladesplan.org/facts_info/science_maps.aspx>

The Future of the Everglades

Everglades Coalition Website

                Currently, there are hundreds of thousands of acres in the Everglades that are being used as sugar farms, which cut off the water supply to the marshes, as explained earlier. In 2009, the government had a plan to buy 180,000 acres of it for $1.34 billion, and turn it into protected wildlife land. However, due to the economic climate, the plan was reduced to 75,000 acres for $530 million. It is also not likely that this plan will go into affect for another decade, because there is a stipulation stating that the US Sugar Corporation cannot take any other bids for the land for 10 years. This plan is a step forward in the greater and more beneficial conservation of the everglades, but the severe cut backs on the area of effect creates uncertainty for the resolve of the government to protect the wetlands.

On Point with Tom Ashbrook Website

There has also been a problem with pythons in the Everglades. The python is not a native animal, so when someone's pet snake got loose in the Everglades, it started to reek havoc on the animal population, destroying most of the fox, deer, and even alligator population. Measures have been raised within the rangers in the Everglades National Park to seek out and remove all of these pythons on sight. In spite of these downsides, the general trend in the everglades is a positive one, because of all the conservation programs that have been out into place. The most important part now is to raise awareness,                      so that no new problems arise because of human intervention.

Resources:

            Ashbrook, Tom. On Point with Tom Ashbrook."A Python Invasion and the Future of the Everglades". National Public Radio. 2012. <http://onpoint.wbur.org/2012/02/08/pythons-everglades>

             Vettel, Jennifer. State of the Planet. "What is the Future of the Everglades?" The Earth Institute Columbia University. 2009. <http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2009/04/13/what-is-the-future-of-the-everglades/>

Programs Instituted to Help the Environment

                SOFIA (South Florida Information Access)    

               
                    The first effort to restore the decaying environment of the Florida Everglades was in 1948, with the Central and Southern Florida (CS&F) Project. In 1992, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were authorized by Congress to investigate the state of these efforts, so they brought out over 100 scientists and specialists to measure the performance of the project. After further review, it appeared that the systems in place from this program were either outdated or ineffective, so in the year 2000, a the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) was established to more effectively combat the negative effects that have plagued the Everglades due to human intervention. The new and improved program supplies the infrastructure and regulations needed to restore, protect, and preserve the water resources of all of central and southern Florida, not just in the Everglades. The C&SF Project provides a smarter managing and storing of fresh water, protections from flood, integration of water into the affected marshes, and other benefits to south Florida. In order to use all of the possible water sources, the Comprehensive Plan is designed to capture, store and redistribute fresh water previously lost to tide and to regulate the quality, quantity, timing and distribution of water flows. The ultimate purpose of this plan is to use the water more effectively, so less is needed to support the growing population. The reforms affect 16 counties over an 18,000-square-mile area. In this area, the workers have built 1,000 miles of canals, 720 miles of levees, and several hundred water control structures. In total it includes more than 60 unique strategies to help conserve the water, and is estimated to take at least 30 years to complete. It was originally estimated to cost $7.8 billion in October 1999, not adjusted for inflation (The Plan in Depth, 1).

Rescources:

Robbins, Erica. Journey to Restore America's Everglades. "The Plan in Depth" <http://www.evergladesplan.org/facts_info/sywtkma_ani mals>

Human Impact on the Everglades

Everglades Digital Library

                The years of farming in the Everglades has been very profitable, but have also had a dramatic impact on the overall well being of the ecosystem. Agricultural activities  to  the south of Lake Okeechobee have resulted in increased erosion, soil oxidation, and the introduction of non native fertilizers and pesticides (Rood 70). Beside the obvious negative impact of the, these processes can also facilitate the transport of manufactured as well as naturally-occurring mercury, which flows into and affects the fish population. The mercury levels in the fish can be dangerous when they are consumed if it exceeds the tolerable level for humans. Another major concern is the vast amounts of water that needs to be extracted from Lake Okeechobee in order to facilitate the farming, which leaves less water for the plants. The farming industry in the Everglades is one of the largest in the United States, but in the recent decade, another major problem for the region has come from overpopulation. 

               

The Wild Muse

             The overall population in Florida has increased more than 16% since April of 2000, and more specifically, the area surrounding Lake Okeechobee has recently had one of the highest rates of population  growth than it has seen in years, with an increase of 12.1% since April of 2000 (U.S Census Bureau, 2010). The primary concern with this population boom, is that it also puts a strain on the fresh water from the lake. As the usage of water from the lake increases, less of it overflows into the everglades, which leads to the lowering of water levels and the drying of the normally waterlogged marshes. This can lead to the widespread wilting of the massive sawgrass fields, which also leads them to be much more vulnerable to wild fires which can destroy massive amounts of plants in the uniform marshes.

Rescources:

            Rood, B.E. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution. "Mercury accumulation trends in Florida Everglades and Savannas Marsh flooded soils" 1998.

           U.S. Census Bureau. State and County Quick Facts. Retrieved November 10, 2010, from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12/12093.html

Animal Life in the Everglades

Everglades National Park DVD

             
               The animals in the Florida Everglades are just as diverse as the vegetation. There are over 300 species of birds that live in the Everglades, as well as around 40 species of mammals. Over 36 of these species that occupy the endangered species list, including the American Crocodile, the Green Turtle, the Wood Stork, and the Florida Panther. These species have been greatly reduced because of hunting as well as the shrinking size of their territory. This is especially true for the Florida Panther, because its population is less than 100 remaining in the wild. 

             Journey to Restore the America's Everglades 

        
               The animals can be split up into two main categories, which are separated by the upper and lower parts of the Everglades.  The larger mammals live mostly in the upper lands which contain vast plains of marshland and grass which are good for the deer and panthers, while most of the birds and alligators have adapted to the small pockets of vegetation like in the tree islands.

Rescources:

                Robbins, Erica. Journey to Restore America's Everglades. "More About the Plants and Animals of the Everglades" <http://www.evergladesplan.org/facts_info/sywtkma_ani mals>  
                Uhler, John William. Everglades National Park Information Page 2007 <http://www.everglades.national-park.com/info.htm#end>
               

Vegetation in the Everglades

          Everglades Tours Website

                 The Everglades are comprised of more than 100 marsh plant species that live in water during all or most of the year. Its most well-known wetland plant is sawgrass, a thick grass-like species that has formed thousands of acres of marshes. These sawgrass fields are also called the Everglades river of grass, because they grows very dense and cover large areas of land. There are also many floating plants that inhabit the deeper water of the marshes including bladderwort, and the white water lily. Periphyton algae also lives among these water based plants. This algae floats in mats on or just below the water's surface, and is the base of food webs for most of the aquatic ecosystems in the Everglades. 

          Everglades Imagery Website

               Another important part of the Everglade's vegetation are the tree islands and the hardwood hammocks. Tree islands are small woodlands containing relatively short trees and shrubs that have adapted to the wet landscape. They provide a shelter and food source to the many mammals that live in the Everglades and are a breeding ground for many native birds. Tree islands have been given that name because of the trees that make up the majority of their space, like the bay, willow and cypress, but they also shelter many other plants such as orchids, ferns, and bromeliads. The hardwood hammocks are similar in nature to the tree islands, but are generally located in drier areas, and support trees which are better suited to that climate, such as oaks, palms, and certain types of mahogany.

Pinellas County Florida Website

             The final type of vegetation that I will talk about is the mangrove forest. The mangrove is a tropical plant that lives on the coastal boundaries of the sea. In the Everglades, they serve as a border between the saltwater from the ocean and the freshwater in the marshes. The mangroves also help to prevent soil erosion and serve as a windbreaker, because of their massive root systems and their thickly dispersed foliage. Key plants such as the mangroves and the trees are vital for both the plant and animal life in the Everglades.

Resources:

          Loveless, Charles. Ecological Society of America: Ecology Journal "A Study of the Vegetation in the Florida Everglades" 1986.

Robbins, Erica. Journey to Restore America's Everglades. "More About the Plants and Animals of the Everglades" <http://www.evergladesplan.org/facts_info/sywtkma_ani mals>

Everglades of the Past

Florida Museum of Natural History

           Long ago, the Everglades stretched over almost 11,000 square miles of land in Southern Florida.  Water once surged freely in Florida from the southern Kissimmee River north into Lake Okeechobee and southward over low altitude grasslands into the Biscayne Bay estuaries, the Ten Thousand Islands, and Florida Bay (National Park Service). This thin, slow-moving expanse of water formed a variety of ponds, sloughs, sawgrass marshes, hardwood hammock, and forested uplands. During the thousands of years in which the Everglades manifested, the complex structure of these different biomes developed into a sustainable yet fragile ecosystem that formed the biological infrastructure in the southern half of Florida.

Everglades Digital Library

            In the early twentieth century, colonial settlers and developers wanted to find out if the Everglades could serve as a potential farm land and a place to establish communities in the ever growing nation. As a result, they started to drain the swamps and build roads in the wetlands. As mentioned earlier, the consequence of these programs can be seen in the severe shrinkage in the size of the  Everglades, by about 67 percent of the original area. In the early 1900s, the drainage process to transform the marshes into arable land was underway, and the results would be severely damaging to the ecosystem and the species it supported.

Rescources: 

             National Park Service. "History and Culture of the Everglades". National Park Services. <http://www.nps.gov/ever/historyculture/index.htm>

             Everglades Forever. "Brief History of the Everglades". Florida Department of Environmental Protection. <http://www.dep.state.fl.us/evergladesforever/about/default.htm>