Everglades

8000 BCE - present

The Everglades is the largest remaining subtropical wilderness in the United States. Formed about 5,000 years ago, this “river of grass” is home to dense mangrove forests. Tree islands, or hammocks, of palms, palmettos, slash pines, and the gumbo-limbo make up one of the Everglades’ several distinct habitats. Shell mounds, built over hundreds of years by the Calusa native peoples who once occupied the marshland, create clearings in the interior of the waterway. Native orchids, seagrasses, sledges, and shrubs grow in this vast 1.5 million acre freshwater ecosystem. The Everglades National Park, established in 1947, protects rare and endangered species that flourish in the sawgrass prairie. The American alligator, wood stork, snail kite, green turtle, and Key Largo woodrat inhabit the wetlands along numerous species of migratory birds, reptiles, butterflies, and waterfowl. Attempts to create arable land through drainage and divert water with canals and dams have reduced the size of this dense haven for wildlife. Invasive species, overfishing, pollution, water-diversion, sea level rise, extreme weather events, flooding, and species decline all pose major challenges for this complex, historically rich ecosystem.

BIRDS: 9 species are endangered
FISH: 3 species are endangered
MAMMALS: 1 species is extinct in the region and 22 are endangered
INSECTS: 5 species are extinct in the regions and 3 are endangered
REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS: 5 species are endangered

The territory of the Everglades falls within the ancestral homelands of the Seminole, Calusa, Taino, Miccosukee and Taquesta peoples.

Territorial recognition: https://native-land.ca/

Most Pressing Issues

Fragmentation and Development

50% of the original wetlands have been developed into agricultural and urban land. The coinciding decrease in wildlife land has caused a cascade of declining species levels. Years of settlement and urbanization have altered wetlands areas, estuaries, and bays.

Agricultural Runoff

Imbalances of phosphorus and nitrogen from agricultural runoff threaten a fragile freshwater system. Increased phosphorus and nitrogen feed algal blooms that block sunlight from reaching seagrasses, affecting a chain of species interactions. Waste incineration and fossil fuel consumption (particularly coal) produce high mercury levels in fish and animals.

Flood Control

Water-diversion and flood control schemes route freshwater away from endangered plants and animals intensifying habitat loss. Pressure from an increasing population and changing land use needs reduce the usable water in the natural system.

Climate Change

Sea levels have risen about 9 inches over the past century, causing salt water intrusion that puts wildlife at risk and reduces the available population area. An increase in severe weather events has damaged land and made conservation efforts even more difficult.

Invasive Species

Exotic plants and animals, introduced by settlers or arriving through migration, out compete native species and alter the landscape. The Burmese python, lionfish, Brazilian peppertree, Australian pine, lather leaf, and Melaleuca pose major threats.

How You Can Help

Friends of the Everglades

Friends of the Everglades works to compel government agencies to comply with laws, encourage politicians to recognize the consequences of their actions & spread awareness of the importance of the Everglades to the South Florida ecosystem.

Environment Florida

Environment Florida is a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization that raises awareness of environmental issues & promotes sensible solutions.

Audubon Society of the Everglades

The Audubon Society of the Everglades inspires people to conserve wildlife, especially birds, and the environment that supports them.

Everglades Coalition

The Everglades Coalition is an alliance of more than 50 local, state & national conservation & environmental organizations dedicated to full restoration of the greater Everglades ecosystem.

Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy launched a bold 10-Year plan for the Everglades, where at its core is an emphasis on connecting protected lands and waters for far-ranging species like the Florida panther and wood storks.

Florida

Sources:

National Park Service, “Development in the Everglades,” Everglades: National Park Florida, last updated April 14, 2015.

National Park Service, “Invasive Animal Program,” Everglades: National Park Florida, last updated March 26, 2021.

National Park Service, “Exotic Vegetation Management Program,” Everglades: National Park Florida, last updated August 5, 2021.

National Park Service, “Plants,” Everglades: National Park Florida, last updated May 31, 2022.

William H. Orem, "Pollutants threaten the Everglades' future," Earth Magazine, January 5, 2012.

Brent Richards Weisman, Unconquered People: Florida's Seminole and Miccosukee Indians (Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 1999), 68-69.

Stephen Hiltner, “Six Days Afloat in the Everglades,” New York Times (New York, NY), published Feb 21, 2022, updated April 17, 2022.

"Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge," U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Rebecca Lindsey, “Climate Change: Global Sea Level,” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, April 19, 2022.