Everglades

Everglades
Wetland
The most prominent feature of the Everglades are the sawgrass prairies found across the region.
Location of Everglades in the southern third of the Florida Peninsula
Coordinates: 26°00′N 80°42′W / 26.0°N 80.7°W / 26.0; -80.7
Location	Florida, United States
Area
• Total	7,800 square miles (20,000 km2)[1]
Highest elevation	25 feet (7.6 m)[1]

The Everglades is a natural region of flooded grasslands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee. Water leaving the lake in the wet season forms a slow-moving river 60 miles (97 km) wide and over 100 miles (160 km) long, flowing southward across a limestone shelf to Florida Bay at the southern end of the state. The Everglades experiences a wide range of weather patterns, from frequent flooding in the wet season to drought in the dry season. Throughout the 20th century, the Everglades suffered significant loss of habitat and environmental degradation.

Human habitation in the southern portion of the Florida peninsula dates to 15,000 years ago. Before European colonization, the region was dominated by the native

Following this period of rapid development and environmental degradation, the ecosystem began to receive notable attention from conservation groups in the 1970s. Internationally, UNESCO and the Ramsar Convention designated the Everglades a Wetland Area of Global Importance. The construction of a large airport 6 miles (10 km) north of Everglades National Park was blocked when an environmental study found that it would severely damage the South Florida ecosystem. With heightened awareness and appreciation of the region, restoration began in the 1980s with the removal of a canal that had straightened the Kissimmee River. However, development and sustainability concerns have remained pertinent in the region. The deterioration of the Everglades, including poor water quality in Lake Okeechobee, was linked to the diminishing quality of life in South Florida's urban areas. In 2000 the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan was approved by Congress to combat these problems, which at that time was considered the most expensive and comprehensive environmental restoration attempt in history; however, implementation faced political complications.

Names

The first written record of the Everglades was on Spanish maps made by

British surveyor John Gerard de Brahm, who mapped the coast of Florida in 1773, called the area "River Glades". The name "Everglades" first appeared on a map in 1823, although it was also spelled as "Ever Glades" as late as 1851.^[5] The Seminole call it Pahokee, meaning "Grassy Water".^[6] The region was labeled "Pa-hai-okee" on a U.S. military map from 1839, although it had earlier been called "Ever Glades" throughout the Second Seminole War.^[4]

A 2007 survey by geographers Ary J. Lamme and Raymond K. Oldakowski found that the "Glades" has emerged as a distinct vernacular

The geology of South Florida, together with a warm, wet, subtropical/tropical climate, provides conditions well-suited for a large marshland ecosystem. Layers of porous and permeable limestone create water-bearing rock and soil that affect the climate, weather, and hydrology of South Florida.^[8] The properties of the rock underneath the Everglades can be explained by the geologic history of the state. The crust underneath Florida was at one point part of the African region of the supercontinent

Surrounding the southern part of Lake Okeechobee is the Fort Thompson Formation, made of dense, hard limestone, shells, and sand. Rain water is less likely to erode the limestone to form solution holes—smaller versions of sinkholes that do not intersect with the water table. In this formation the beds are generally impermeable.[15] Underneath the metropolitan areas of Palm Beach County is the Anastasia Formation, composed of shelly limestone, coquina, and sand representing a former mangrove or salt marsh. The Anastasia Formation is much more permeable and filled with pocks and solution holes.^[15] The Fort Thompson and Anastasia Formations, and Miami Limestone and (x), were formed during the Sangamonian interglacial period.^[16]

The geologic formations that have the most influence on the Everglades are the Miami Limestone and the Fort Thompson Formation. The Miami Limestone has two

With the rise of sea levels that occurred during the Pleistocene approximately 17,000 years ago, the runoff of water from Lake Okeechobee slowed and created the vast marshland that is now known as the Everglades. Slower runoff also created an accumulation of almost 18 feet (5.5 m) of peat in the area. The presence of such peat deposits, dated to about 5,000 years ago, is evidence that widespread flooding had occurred by then.^[21]

Hydrology

The consistent Everglades flooding is fed by the extensive Kissimmee, Caloosahatchee, Miami, Myakka, and Peace Rivers in central Florida. The Kissimmee River is a broad floodplain that empties directly into Lake Okeechobee, which at 730 square miles (1,900 km²) with an average depth of 9 feet (2.7 m), is a vast but shallow lake.^[22] Soil deposits in the Everglades basin indicate that peat is deposited where the land is flooded consistently throughout the year. Calcium deposits are left behind when flooding is shorter. The deposits occur in areas where water rises and falls depending on rainfall, as opposed to water being stored in the rock from one year to the next. Calcium deposits are present where more limestone is exposed.^[23]

The area from Orlando to the tip of the Florida peninsula was at one point a single drainage unit. When rainfall exceeded the capacity of Lake Okeechobee and the Kissimmee River floodplain, it spilled over and flowed in a southwestern direction to empty into Florida Bay. Prior to urban and agricultural development in Florida, the Everglades began at the southern edge of Lake Okeechobee and flowed for approximately 100 miles (160 km), emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. The limestone shelf is wide and slightly angled instead of having a narrow, deep channel characteristic of most rivers. The vertical gradient from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay is about 2 inches (5.1 cm) per mile, creating an almost 60-mile (97 km) wide expanse of river that travels about half a mile (0.8 km) a day.^[24] This slow movement of a broad, shallow river is known as sheetflow, and gives the Everglades its nickname, River of Grass. Water leaving Lake Okeechobee may require months or years to reach its final destination, Florida Bay. The sheetflow travels so slowly that water is typically stored from one wet season to the next in the porous limestone substrate. The ebb and flow of water has shaped the land and every ecosystem in South Florida throughout the Everglades' estimated 5,000 years of existence. The motion of water defines plant communities and how animals adapt to their habitats and food sources.^[25]

Climate

The climate of South Florida is located across the broad transition zone between subtropical and tropical climates (Koppen Aw, Am and Cfa). Like most regions with this climate type, there are two basic seasons – a "dry season" (winter) which runs from November through April, and a "wet season" (summer) which runs from May through October. About 70% of the annual rainfall in south Florida occurs in the wet season – often as brief but intense tropical downpours. The dry season sees little rainfall and dew points and humidity are often quite low. The dry season can be severe at times, as wildfires and water restrictions are often in place.

The annual range of temperatures in south Florida and the Everglades is rather small (less than 20 °F [11 °C]) – ranging from a monthly mean temperature of around 65 °F (18 °C) in January to 83 °F (28 °C) in July. High temperatures in the hot and wet season (summer) typically exceed 90 °F (32 °C) across inland south Florida (although coastal locations are cooled by winds from the

Unlike any other wetland system on earth, the Everglades are sustained primarily by the atmosphere.[28] Evapotranspiration – the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration from the Earth's land surface to atmosphere – associated with thunderstorms, is the key mechanism by which water leaves the region. During a year unaffected by drought, the rate may reach 40 inches (100 cm) a year. When droughts take place, the rate may peak at over 50 inches (130 cm), and exceed the amount of rainfall.^[29] As water leaves an area through evaporation from groundwater or from plant matter, activated primarily by solar energy, it is then moved by wind patterns to other areas that border or flow into the Everglades watershed system. Evapotranspiration is responsible for approximately 70–90 percent of water entering undeveloped wetland regions in the Everglades.^[30]

Precipitation during the wet season is primarily caused by air mass thunderstorms and the easterly flow out of the subtropical high (Bermuda High). Intense daytime heating of the ground causes the warm moist tropical air to rise, creating the afternoon thundershowers typical of tropical climates. 2:00 pm is the mean time of daily thundershowers across South Florida and the Everglades. Late in the wet season (August and September), precipitation levels reach their highest levels as tropical depressions and lows add to daily rainfall. Occasionally, tropical lows can become severe tropical cyclones and cause significant damage when they make landfall across south Florida. Tropical storms average one a year, and major hurricanes about once every ten years. Between 1871 and 1981, 138 tropical cyclones struck directly over or close to the Everglades.^[27] Strong winds from these storms disperse plant seeds and replenish mangrove forests, coral reefs, and other ecosystems. Dramatic fluctuations in precipitation are characteristic of the South Florida climate. Droughts, floods, and tropical cyclones are part of the natural water system in the Everglades.^[30]

Formative and sustaining processes

The Everglades are a complex system of interdependent ecosystems. Marjory Stoneman Douglas described the area as a "River of Grass" in 1947, though that metaphor represents only a portion of the system. The area recognized as the Everglades, prior to drainage, was a web of marshes and prairies 4,000 square miles (10,000 km²) in size.^[35] Borders between ecosystems are subtle or imperceptible. These systems shift, grow and shrink, die, or reappear within years or decades. Geologic factors, climate, and the frequency of fire help to create, maintain, or replace the ecosystems in the Everglades.

Water

Water is the dominant force in the Everglades, shaping the land, vegetation, and animal life in South Florida. Starting at the

As rain continued to fall, the slightly acidic rainwater dissolved the limestone. As limestone wore away, the groundwater came into contact with the land surface and created a massive wetland ecosystem.^[36] Although the region appears flat, weathering of the limestone created slight valleys and plateaus in some areas. These plateaus rise and fall only a few inches, but on the subtle South Florida topography these small variations affect both the flow of water and the types of vegetation that can take hold.^[38]

Rock

The underlying bedrock or limestone of the Everglades basin affects the hydroperiod, or how long an area within the region stays flooded throughout the year.^[36] Longer hydroperiods are possible in areas that were submerged beneath seawater for longer periods of time, while the geology of Florida was forming. More water is held within the porous ooids and limestone than older types of rock that spent more time above sea level.^[39] A hydroperiod of ten months or more fosters the growth of sawgrass, whereas a shorter hydroperiod of six months or less promotes beds of periphyton, a growth of algae and other microscopic organisms. There are only two types of soil in the Everglades, peat and marl. Where there are longer hydroperiods, peat builds up over hundreds or thousands of years due to many generations of decaying plant matter.^[40] Where periphyton grows, the soil develops into marl, which is more calcitic in composition.

Initial attempts at developing agriculture near Lake Okeechobee were successful, but the nutrients in the peat were rapidly removed. In a process called soil

Fire is an important element in the natural maintenance of the Everglades. The majority of fires are caused by

Sawgrass marshes and sloughs

Several ecosystems are present in the Everglades, and boundaries between them are subtle or absent. The primary feature of the Everglades is the sawgrass marsh. The iconic water and sawgrass combination in the shallow river 100 miles (160 km) long and 60 miles (97 km) wide that spans from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay is often referred to as the "true Everglades" or just "the Glades".^[45][46] Prior to the first drainage attempts in 1905, the sheetflow occupied nearly a third of the lower Florida peninsula.^[36] Sawgrass thrives in the slowly moving water, but may die in unusually deep floods if oxygen is unable to reach its roots. It is particularly vulnerable immediately after a fire.^[47] The hydroperiod for the marsh is at least nine months, and can last longer.^[48] Where sawgrass grows densely, few animals or other plants live, although alligators choose these locations for nesting. Where there is more room, periphyton grows.^[49] Periphyton supports larval insects and amphibians, which in turn are consumed as food by birds, fish, and reptiles. It also absorbs calcium from water, which adds to the calcitic composition of the marl.^[50]

Wet prairies are slightly elevated like sawgrass marshes, but with greater plant diversity. The surface is covered in water only three to seven months of the year, and the water is, on average, shallow at only 4 inches (10 cm) deep.[53] When flooded, the marl can support a variety of water plants.^[54] Solution holes, or deep pits where the limestone has worn away, may remain flooded even when the prairies are dry, and they support aquatic invertebrates such as crayfish and snails, and larval amphibians which feed young wading birds.^[55] These regions tend to border between sloughs and sawgrass marshes.

Alligators have created a niche in wet prairies. With their claws and snouts they dig at low spots and create ponds free of vegetation that remain submerged throughout the dry season. Alligator holes are integral to the survival of aquatic invertebrates, turtles, fish, small mammals, and birds during extended drought periods. The alligators then feed upon some of the animals that come to the hole.^[56][57]

Tropical hardwood hammock

Small islands of trees growing on land raised between 1 foot (0.30 m) and 3 feet (0.91 m) above sloughs and prairies are called tropical hardwood

A cross section of fresh water ecosystems in the Everglades, with relative average water depths

Cypress

Cypress swamps can be found throughout the Everglades, but the largest covers most of Collier County. The Big Cypress Swamp is located to the west of the sawgrass prairies and sloughs, and it is commonly called "The Big Cypress".^[66] The name refers to its area rather than the height or diameter of the trees; at its most conservative estimate, the swamp measures 1,200 square miles (3,100 km²), but the hydrologic boundary of The Big Cypress can be calculated at over 2,400 square miles (6,200 km²).^[67] Most of The Big Cypress sits atop a bedrock covered by a thinner layer of limestone. The limestone underneath the Big Cypress contains quartz, which creates sandy soil that hosts a variety of vegetation different from what is found in other areas of the Everglades.^[66] The basin for The Big Cypress receives on average 55 inches (140 cm) of water in the wet season.^[68]

Although The Big Cypress is the largest growth of cypress swamps in South Florida, cypress swamps can be found near the Atlantic Coastal Ridge and between Lake Okeechobee and the Eastern flatwoods, as well as in sawgrass marshes. Cypresses are deciduous

Mangrove and Coastal prairie

Eventually the water from Lake Okeechobee and The Big Cypress makes its way to the ocean. Mangrove trees are well adapted to the transitional zone of

Much of the coast and the inner estuaries are built of mangroves; there is no border between the coastal marshes and the bay. Thus the marine ecosystems in Florida Bay are considered to be a part of the Everglades watershed and one of the ecosystems connected to and affected by the Everglades as a whole. More than 800 square miles (2,100 km²) of Florida Bay is protected by Everglades National Park, representing the largest body of water in the park boundaries.^[79] There are approximately 100 keys in Florida Bay, many of which are mangrove forests.^[80] The fresh water coming into Florida Bay from the Everglades creates perfect conditions for vast beds of turtle grass and algae formations that are the foundation for animal life in the bay. Sea turtles and manatees eat the grass, while invertebrate animals, such as worms, clams and other mollusks eat the algae formations and microscopic plankton.^[81] Female sea turtles return annually to nest on the shore, and manatees spend the winter months in the warmer water of the bay. Sea grasses also serve to stabilize the sea beds and protect shorelines from erosion by absorbing energy from waves.

History

Native Americans

Humans arrived in the Florida peninsula approximately 15,000 years ago.

From the Glades peoples, two major nations emerged in the area: the

Estimated numbers of Calusa at the beginning of the Spanish occupation ranged from 4,000 to 7,000.[88] The society declined in power and population; by 1697 their number was estimated to be about 1,000.^[87] In the early 18th century, the Calusa came under attack from the Yamasee to the north. They asked the Spanish for refuge in Cuba, where almost 200 died of illness. Soon they were relocated again to the Florida Keys.^[89]

Second in power and number to the Calusa in South Florida were the Tequesta. They occupied the southeastern portion of the lower peninsula in modern-day Dade and Broward counties. Like the Calusa, the Tequesta societies centered on the mouths of rivers. Their main village was probably on the Miami River or Little River. Spanish depictions of the Tequesta state that they were greatly feared by sailors, who suspected them of torturing and killing survivors of shipwrecks.^[90] With an increasing European presence in south Florida, Native Americans from the Keys and other areas began increasing their trips to Cuba. Official permission for the immigration of Native Americans from the Florida Keys was granted by Cuban officials in 1704.^[91] Spanish priests attempted to set up missions in 1743, but noted that the Tequesta were under assault from a neighboring tribe. When only 30 members were left, they were removed to Havana. A British surveyor in 1770 described multiple deserted villages in the region where the Tequesta lived.^[92] Common descriptions of Native Americans in Florida by 1820 used only the term "Seminoles".^[93]

Seminole

Following the demise of the Calusa and Tequesta, Native Americans in southern Florida were referred to as "Spanish Indians" in the 1740s, probably due to their friendlier relations with Spain. The

The construction of the Tamiami Trail, beginning in 1928 and spanning the region from Tampa to Miami, altered their ways of life. Some began to work in local farms, ranches, and souvenir stands.^[97] Some of the people who interacted more with European Americans began to move to reservations in the 1940s. These were their bases for reorganizing their government and they became federally recognized in 1957 as the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

People who kept more traditional ways had settlements along the Tamiami Trail and tended to speak the

The military penetration of southern Florida offered the opportunity to map a poorly understood and largely unknown part of the country. An 1840 expedition into the Everglades offered the first printed account for the general public to read about the Everglades. The anonymous writer described the terrain the party was crossing:

No country that I have ever heard of bears any resemblance to it; it seems like a vast sea filled with grass and green trees, and expressly intended as a retreat for the rascally Indian, from which the white man would never seek to drive them.^[100]

The land seemed to inspire extreme reactions of both wonder or hatred. During the Second Seminole War an army surgeon wrote, "It is in fact a most hideous region to live in, a perfect paradise for Indians, alligators, serpents, frogs, and every other kind of loathsome reptile."^[101]

A survey team led by railroad executive

After the Civil War, a state agency called the Internal Improvement Fund (IIF), whose purpose was to improve Florida's roads, canals, and rail lines, was discovered to be deeply in debt. The IIF found a Pennsylvania real estate developer named Hamilton Disston interested in implementing plans to drain the land for agriculture. Disston purchased 4,000,000 acres (16,000 km²) of land for $1 million in 1881,^[107] and he began constructing canals near St. Cloud. At first, the canals seemed to work in lowering the water levels in the wetlands surrounding the rivers.^[108] They were effective in lowering the groundwater, but it became apparent that their capacity was insufficient for the wet season.^[109] Although Disston's canals did not drain well, his purchase primed the economy of Florida. It made news and attracted tourists and land buyers. Within four years property values doubled, and the population increased significantly.^[107]

The IIF was able to invest in development projects due to Disston's purchase, and an opportunity to improve transportation arose when oil tycoon Henry Flagler began purchasing land and building rail lines along the east coast of Florida, as far south as Palm Beach in 1893.^[110] Along the way he built resort hotels, transforming territorial outposts into tourist destinations. The land bordering the rail lines was developed as citrus farms.^[111] By 1896 the rail line had been extended to Biscayne Bay.^[112] Three months after the first train had arrived, the residents of Miami voted to incorporate the town. Miami became a prime destination for extremely wealthy people after the Royal Palm Hotel was opened.^[113]

During the 1904

With the construction of canals, newly reclaimed Everglades land was promoted throughout the United States. Land developers sold 20,000 lots in a few months in 1912. Advertisements promised within eight weeks of arrival, a farmer could be making a living, although for many it took at least two months to clear the land. Some tried burning off the sawgrass or other vegetation, only to learn that the peat continued to burn. Animals and tractors used for plowing got mired in the muck and were useless. When the muck dried, it turned to a fine black powder and created dust storms.^[116] Although initially crops sprouted quickly and lushly, they just as quickly wilted and died, seemingly without reason.^[117]

The increasing population in towns near the Everglades hunted in the area. Raccoons and otters were the most widely hunted for their skins. Hunting often went unchecked; in one trip, a Lake Okeechobee hunter killed 250 alligators and 172 otters.^[118] Water birds were a particular target of plume hunting. Bird feathers were used in women's hats in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In 1886, 5 million birds were estimated to be killed for their feathers.^[119] They were shot usually in the spring, when their feathers were colored for mating and nesting. The plumes, or aigrettes, as they were called in the millinery business, sold for $32 an ounce in 1915—the price of gold.^[118] Millinery was a $17 million a year industry^[120] that motivated plume harvesters to lay in watch of nests of egrets and many colored birds during the nesting season, shoot the parents with small-bore rifles, and leave the chicks to starve.^[118] Plumes from Everglades wading birds could be found in Havana, New York City, London, and Paris. Hunters could collect plumes from a hundred birds on a good day.^[121]

Two catastrophic hurricanes in

The idea of a national park for the Everglades was pitched in 1928, when a Miami land developer named

The same year the park was dedicated, two hurricanes and the wet season caused 100 inches (250 cm) to fall on South Florida. Although there were no human casualties, agricultural interests lost approximately $59 million (equivalent to $756 million in 2023).[132] In 1948, Congress approved the Central and Southern Florida Project for Flood Control and Other Purposes (C&SF), which divided the Everglades into basins. In the northern Everglades were Water Conservation Areas (WCAs), and the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) bordering to the south of Lake Okeechobee. In the southern Everglades was Everglades National Park. Levees and pumping stations bordered each WCA, and released water in dryer times or removed it and pumped it to the ocean in times of flood. The WCAs took up approximately 37 percent of the original Everglades.^[133] The C&SF constructed over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of canals, and hundreds of pumping stations and levees within three decades. During the 1950s and 1960s the Miami metropolitan area grew four times as fast as the rest of the nation. Between 1940 and 1965, 6 million people moved to South Florida: 1,000 people moved to Miami every week.^[134] Developed areas between the mid-1950s and the late 1960s quadrupled. Much of the water reclaimed from the Everglades was sent to newly developed areas.^[135]

Everglades Agricultural Area

The C&SF established 470,000 acres (1,900 km²) for the Everglades Agricultural Area—27 percent of the Everglades prior to development.

Main article:

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Heritage Outlook cited the Everglades National Park 2020 Conservation Outlook as "Critical." Assessment of current trends were concluded to be "deteriorating" with "very high threat" to the overall health of the ecosystem. Unfortunately, some ecological features now lost cannot be restored as they were initially developed over decades to centuries.^[145]

The surviving ecological features are of vital importance to protect due to their essential support of the state of Florida and their unique properties, unknown elsewhere in the world and are of invaluable consequence to multiple fields of study.

Major contributors to this decline include water quality (nutrient pollution), quantity (reduced water flow), distribution, and timing; invasive species; climate change (sea-level rise, etc.); ocean acidification; and hurricanes. Other significant threats to the restoration and conservation of the Everglades are lagging logistic and legislative action. Restoration projects in other areas of Florida (ie Tamami Trail Next Steps, water storage and treatment south of Lake Okeechobee, etc.), as well as decompartmentalization of the varying jurisdictions and regional water quality/quantity measures which are upstream of the ecosystem, have not received adequate attention, but are essential to prevent further loss.[145]

While some Everglades Restoration projects have been completed, critical plans remain incomplete. Further, pre-CERP components of current plans overestimated the hydrologic and ecologic benefits of these plans, and restoration projects to be complete by 2027 that address these "benefit setbacks" lack timely funding.^[145]

Recent changes in internal site policies have been lauded as showing promising improvement, including improved consistency in the management of park visitor activities, efforts to deal with invasive species, improving prescribed fire activities, and increasing financing opportunities for internal park projects. However, although the site itself is increasing work to deal with salient issues, support at the local, state, and federal level have not been in proportion to the critical nature of conservation efforts.^[145]

Kissimmee River

The Central and Southern Florida Flood Control Project's final construction project was straightening the Kissimmee River, a meandering 90-mile (140 km)-long river that was drained to make way for grazing land and agriculture. The C&SF started building the C-38 canal in 1962 and the effects were seen almost immediately. Waterfowl, wading birds, and fish disappeared, prompting conservationists and sport fishers to demand the region be restored before the canal was finished in 1971.^[146] In general, C&SF projects had been criticized for being temporary fixes that ignored future consequences, costing billions of dollars with no end in sight.^[147] After Governor Bob Graham initiated the Save Our Everglades campaign in 1983, the first section of the canal was backfilled in 1986. Graham announced that by 2000 the Everglades would be restored as closely as possible to its pre-drainage state.^[148] The Kissimmee River Restoration project was approved by Congress in 1992. It is estimated that it will cost $578 million to convert only 22 miles (35 km) of the canal. The entire project was to be complete by 2011,^[149] yet as of 2017^[update], the project is "more than halfway complete" and the new completion date is 2020.^[150]

Water quality

Further problems with the environment arose when a vast algal bloom appeared in one-fifth of Lake Okeechobee in 1986, the same year cattails were discovered overtaking sawgrass marshes in Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. Scientists discovered that phosphorus, used as a fertilizer in the EAA, was flushed into canals and pumped back into the lake.^[151] When the lake drained, the phosphorus entered the water in the marshes, changing the nutrient levels. It kept periphyton from forming marl, one of two soils in the Everglades. The arrival of phosphorus allowed cattails to spread quickly. The cattails grew in dense mats—too thick for birds or alligators to nest in. It also dissolved oxygen in the peat, promoted algae, and prohibited the growth of native invertebrates on the bottom of the food chain.^[152]

At the same time mercury was found in local fish at such high levels that consumption warnings were posted for fishermen. A Florida panther was found dead with levels of mercury high enough to kill a human.^[153] Scientists found that power plants and incinerators using fossil fuels were expelling mercury into the atmosphere, and it fell as rain or dust during droughts. The naturally occurring bacteria that reduce sulfur in the Everglades ecosystem were transforming the mercury into methylmercury, and it was bioaccumulating through the food chain.^[153] Stricter emissions standards helped lower mercury coming from power plants and incinerators, which in turn lowered mercury levels found in animals, though they continue to be a concern.^[153]

The Everglades Forever Act, introduced by Governor Lawton Chiles in 1994, was an attempt to legislate the lowering of phosphorus in Everglades waterways. The act put the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in charge of testing and enforcing low phosphorus levels: 10 parts per billion (ppb) (down from 500 ppb in the 1980s).^[154] The SFWMD built Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs) near sugarcane fields where water leaving the EAA flows into ponds lined with lime rock and layers of peat and calcareous periphyton. Testing has shown this method to be more effective than previously anticipated, bringing levels from 80 ppb to 10 ppb.^[155]

Invasive species

Main article: List of invasive species in the Everglades

As a center for trade and travel between the U.S., the Caribbean, and South America, South Florida is especially vulnerable to invasive species, or species of plants and animals that adapt aggressively to conditions in the Everglades, allowing them to reproduce faster and grow larger than they would naturally in their native environments. Approximately 26% of all species of fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals in South Florida are exotic—more than in any other part of the U.S.—and the region hosts one of the highest numbers of exotic plant species in the world.^[156] Controlling invasive species in 1,700,000 acres (6,900 km²) of infested land in South Florida costs authorities about $500 million a year.^[157]

The Everglades hosts 1,392 exotic plant species actively reproducing in the region, outnumbering the 1,301 species considered native to South Florida.^[158] The melaleuca tree (Melaleuca quinquenervia) takes water in greater amounts than other trees. Melaleucas grow taller and more densely in the Everglades than in their native Australia, making them unsuitable as nesting areas for birds with wide wingspans.^[159] They also choke out native vegetation. More than $2 million has been spent on keeping them out of Everglades National Park.^[160]

Brazilian pepper, or Florida holly (

water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), which is a widespread problem in Florida's waterways, a major threat to endemic species, and is difficult and costly to eradicate. The Old World climbing fern (Lygodium microphyllum) may be causing the most harm to restoration as it blankets areas thickly, making it impossible for animals to pass through. It also climbs up trees and creates "fire ladders", allowing parts of the trees to burn that would otherwise remain unharmed.^[162]

Many pets have escaped or been released into the Everglades from the surrounding urban areas. Some find the conditions quite favorable and have established self-sustaining populations, competing for food and space with native animals. Many tropical fish have been released, but blue tilapias (Oreochromis aureus) cause damage to shallow waterways by creating large nests and consuming aquatic plants that protect native young fish.^[163]

Native to southern Asia, the Burmese python (

escaped pythons have begun reproducing in an environment for which they are well-suited.^[164][165] In 2017 The South Florida Water Management District implemented the Python Elimination program, hoping to encourage the public to participate in the removal of the snakes by placing a cash reward per foot of python captured and euthanized with an additional wage pay and $200 per active nest found.^[166] In Everglades National Park alone, agents removed more than 2,000 Burmese pythons from the park as of 2017^[update].^[167] Federal authorities banned four species of exotic snakes, including the Burmese python, in 2012.^[168] The pythons are believed to be responsible for drastic decreases in the populations of some mammals within the park.^[169] In a 2015 study by the United States Geological Survey, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the University of Florida, 95 adult marsh rabbits were released and tracked in areas known to have invasive python populations. 11 months later, it was found that 77% of the rabbits that fell victim to predation, was due to pythons.^[170] Relationships like these are believed to be a reason for declining native predator populations such as the Florida Panther that has less than 500 remaining individuals in the wild.^[171]

Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan

Main article: Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan

Although scientists made headway in decreasing mercury and phosphorus levels in water, the natural environment of South Florida continued to decline in the 1990s, and life in nearby cities reflected this downturn. To address the deterioration of the Miami metropolitan area, Governor Lawton Chiles commissioned a report on the sustainability of the area. In 1995, Chiles published the commission's findings in a report that related the degradation of the Everglades ecosystems to the lower quality of life in urban areas. The report noted past environmental abuses that brought the state to a position to make a decision. Not acting to improve the South Florida ecosystem, the report predicted, would inevitably cause further and intolerable deterioration that would harm local tourism by 12,000 jobs and $200 million annually, and commercial fishing by 3,300 jobs and $52 million annually.^[172] Urban areas had grown beyond their capacities to sustain themselves. Crowded cities were facing problems such as high crime rates, traffic jams, severely overcrowded schools, and overtaxed public services; the report noted that water shortages were ironic, given the 53 inches (130 cm) of rain the region received annually.^[172]

In 1999, an evaluation of the C&SF was submitted to Congress as part of the Water Development Act of 1992. The seven-year report, called the "Restudy", cited indicators of harm to the ecosystem: a 50 percent reduction in the original Everglades, diminished water storage, harmful timing of water releases from canals and pumping stations, an 85 to 90 percent decrease in wading bird populations over the past 50 years, and the decline of output from commercial fisheries. Bodies of water including

water restrictions.^[174]

The Restudy came with a plan to stop the declining environmental quality, and this proposal was to be the most expensive and comprehensive ecological repair project in history.^[175] The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) proposed more than 60 construction projects over 30 years to store water that was being flushed into the ocean, in reservoirs, underground aquifers, and abandoned quarries; add more Stormwater Treatment Areas to filter water that flowed into the lower Everglades; regulate water released from pumping stations into local waterways and improve water released to Everglades National Park and Water Conservation Areas; remove barriers to sheetflow by raising the Tamiami Trail and destroying the Miami Canal, and reuse wastewater for urban areas.^[176] The cost estimate for the entire plan was $7.8 billion, and in a bipartisan show of cooperation, CERP was voted through Congress with an overwhelming margin. It was signed by President Bill Clinton on December 11, 2000.^[177]

Since its signing, the State of Florida reports that it has spent more than $2 billion on the various projects. More than 36,000 acres (150 km²) of Stormwater Treatment Areas have been constructed to filter 2,500 short tons (2,300 t) of phosphorus from Everglades waters. An STA spanning 17,000 acres (69 km²) was constructed in 2004, making it the largest manmade wetland in the world. Fifty-five percent of the land necessary to acquire for restoration has been purchased by the State of Florida, totaling 210,167 acres (850.52 km²). A plan to hasten the construction and funding of projects was put into place, named "Acceler8", spurring the start of six of eight large construction projects, including that of three large reservoirs.^[178] However, federal funds have not been forthcoming; CERP was signed when the U.S. government had a budget surplus, but since then deficits have renewed, and two of CERP's major supporters in Congress retired. According to a story in The New York Times, state officials say the restoration is lost in a maze of "federal bureaucracy, a victim of 'analysis paralysis'".^[179] CERP still remains controversial as the projects slated for Acceler8, environmental activists note, are those that benefit urban areas, and regions in the Everglades in desperate need of water are still being neglected, suggesting that water is being diverted to make room for more people in an already overtaxed environment.^[180]

A series of biennial reports from the U.S. National Research Council have reviewed the progress of CERP. The fourth report in the series, released in 2012, found that little progress has been made in restoring the core of the remaining Everglades ecosystem; instead, most project construction so far has occurred along its periphery.^[181] The report noted that to reverse ongoing ecosystem declines, it will be necessary to expedite restoration projects that target the central Everglades, and to improve both the quality and quantity of the water in the ecosystem.^[182] To better understand the potential implications of the current slow pace of progress, the report assessed the current status of ten Everglades ecosystem attributes, including phosphorus loads, peat depth, and populations of snail kites, birds of prey that are endangered in South Florida. Most attributes received grades ranging from C (degraded) to D (significantly degraded), but the snail kite received a grade of F (near irreversible damage). The report also assessed the future trajectory of each ecosystem attribute under three restoration scenarios: improved water quality, improved hydrology, and improvements to both water quality and hydrology, which helped highlight the urgency of restoration actions to benefit a wide range of ecosystem attributes and demonstrate the cost of inaction.^[182] Overall, the report concluded that substantial near-term progress to address both water quality and hydrology in the central Everglades is needed to reverse ongoing degradation before it is too late.

Future of the Everglades

In 2008, the State of Florida agreed to buy

U.S. Sugar and all of its manufacturing and production facilities for an estimated $1.7 billion.^[183] Florida officials indicated they intended to allow U.S. Sugar to process for six more years before dismissing its employees and dismantling the plant. The area, which includes 187,000 acres (760 km²) of land, would then be rehabilitated and water flow from Lake Okeechobee would be restored.^[183] In November 2008, the agreement was revised to offer $1.34 billion, allowing sugar mills in Clewiston to remain in production.^[184] Critics of the revised plan say that it ensures sugarcane will be grown in the Everglades for at least another decade.^[185] Further research is being done to address the continuing production of sugarcane in the Everglades to minimize phosphorus runoff.^[186]

Everglades restoration received $96 million of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.^[187] As a result of the stimulus package, a mile-long (1.6 km) bridge to replace the Tamiami Trail, a road that borders Everglades National Park to the north and has blocked water from reaching the southern Everglades, was begun by the Army Corps of Engineers in December 2009. The next month work began to reconstruct the C-111 canal, east of the park that historically diverted water into Florida Bay.^[188][189] Governor Charlie Crist announced the same month that $50 million of state funds would be earmarked for Everglades restoration.^[190] In May 2010, 5.5 miles (8.9 km) of bridges were proposed to be added to the Tamiami Trail.^[191]

Plane crashes

At least three airplanes have crashed in the Everglades.

• Northwest Airlines Flight 705
  , February 12, 1963, all 43 passengers and crew killed.
• On December 29, 1972, Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashed in the Florida Everglades, causing 101 fatalities and 75 survivors. The cause was pilot error.^[192]
• On May 11, 1996, ValuJet Flight 592 crashed in the Everglades killing all 110 passengers and crew. The cause was an in-flight cargo fire.^[193]

See also

• Carr (landform)
• Everglades Foundation
• Everglades Pseudoatoll
• History of Florida

References

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Bibliography

• Barnett, Cynthia (2007). Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S., University of Michigan Press.
  ISBN 0-472-11563-4
• Carter, W. Hodding (2004). Stolen Water: Saving the Everglades from its Friends, Foes, and Florida, Atria Books.
  ISBN 0-7434-7407-4
• Caulfield, Patricia (1970) Everglades, Sierra Club / Ballantine Books.
  ISBN 0-345-02353-6
• ISBN 0-912451-44-0
• Douglas, Marjory; Rothchild, John (1987). Marjory Stoneman Douglas: Voice of the River. Pineapple Press.
  ISBN 0-910923-94-9
• Ferriter, Amy; Serbesoff-King, Kristina; Bodle, Mike; Goodyear, Carole; Doren, Bob; Langeland, Ken (2004). Chapter 8E: Exotic Species in the Everglades Protection Area, South Florida Water Management District
• George, Jean (1972). Everglades Wildguide. National Park Service. Gov. doc #I 29.62:Ev2
• Griffin, John (2002). Archeology of the Everglades. University Press of Florida.
  ISBN 0-8130-2558-3
• Grunwald, Michael (2006). The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise. New York: Simon & Schuster.
  ISBN 0-7432-5107-5
• Hann, John (ed.) (1991). Missions to the Calusa. University Press of Florida.
  ISBN 0-8130-1966-4
• Jewell, Susan (1993). Exploring Wild South Florida: A Guide to Finding the Natural Areas and Wildlife of the Everglades and Florida Keys, Pineapple Press, Inc.
  ISBN 1-56164-023-9
• Lodge, Thomas E. (2005). The Everglades Handbook. Understanding the Ecosystem. CRC Press.
  ISBN 1-884015-06-9
• McCally, David (1999). The Everglades: An Environmental History. University Press of Florida.
  ISBN 0-8130-2302-5
• Ripple, Jeff (1992). Big Cypress Swamp and the Ten Thousand Islands: Eastern America's Last Great Wilderness, University of South Carolina Press.
  ISBN 0-87249-842-5
• Tebeau, Charlton
  (1968). Man in the Everglades: 2000 Years of Human History in the Everglades National Park. University of Miami Press.
• Toops, Connie (1998). The Florida Everglades. Voyageur Press.
  ISBN 0-89658-372-4
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and South Florida Water Management District (April 1999). "Summary", Central and Southern Florida Project Comprehensive Review Study
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• University of Florida Agricultural Experiment Station and United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service (March 1948). Bulletin 442: Soils, Geology, and Water Control in the Everglades Region.
• Whitney, Ellie et al., eds. (2004) Priceless Florida: Natural Ecosystems and Native Species. Pineapple Press, Inc.
  ISBN 978-1-56164-309-7
• Wilhelm, Chris, "Pragmatism, Seminoles, and Science: Opposition to Progressive Everglades Drainage". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 90 (Spring 2012), 426–52.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Everglades.

• Everglades National Park UNESCO Collection on Google Arts and Culture

Geography and ecology

• Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve
• Arthur R. Marshall National Wildlife Refuge (US Fish & Wildlife Service)
• Everglades Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area

History links

• A History of the Everglades Archived 2008-08-21 at the Wayback Machine
• Rizzardi, Keith W. (March 1, 2001). "A Recent History of Everglades Regulation and Litigation". Florida Bar Journal.
• History information about the Everglades from the World Digital Library
• Public television series episode on history of Florida Everglades

Restoration

• The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP)
• The Everglades Foundation
• The Everglades Coalition
• South Florida Information Access (U.S. Geological Survey) Archived 2011-12-12 at the Wayback Machine
• Environment Florida – Founders of The "Save The Everglades" campaign
• Friends of the Everglades
• South Florida Environmental Report (South Florida Water Management District and Florida DEP)

Media

• Everglades Digital Library
• Water's Journey: Everglades – Comprehensive film and web documentary about the Everglades
• The Everglades in the Time of Marjory Stoneman Douglas (Photo exhibit)
• Everglades images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu (Slow modem version)
• The Everglades in Peril – slideshow by The New York Times