The plant life in the Everglades National Park consists of several different species: the marsh species, which includes saw grass, bladderwort, white water lily, spatterdock, maiden cane, and perception algae; the tree island and hammock species, which include royal palm, cabbage alma, live oak, gumbo limbo, and West Indian mahogany; orchids, brooklimes, and ferns; and mangroves.
The animal life in the Everglades National Park consists of: birds, which include Woodstock, White and Glossy Ibises, Roseate Spoonbill, Great Blue, Great White and Tetrachloride Herons, Snowy and Great Egrets, Snail Kite, and Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow; land mammals, which include raccoon, skunk, opossum, bobcat, white-tail deer, and Florida panther; and other animals such as, the American alligator and the American crocodile, the West Indian manatee, and the bootlessness dolphin. (Robbins, 2011). The Everglades
National Park contains a mixture of sub-tropical and temperate wildlife species that is not found any,veer else. The mosaic of habitats found within the Greater Everglades Ecosystem supports an assemblage of plant and animal species not found elsewhere on the planet. The Everglades protect 800 species of land and water vertebrates, including over 14 threatened species, and 25 mammals, over 400 bird species, 60 known species of reptile, amphibian and insect, including two threatened swallowtail butterfly species. Over 20 species of snakes have been recorded, including the threatened indigo snake.
More than 275 species of fish are known from the Everglades, most inhabiting the marine and estuarine waters. (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, 2010). The bottom tier of the food chain in the Everglades National Park would contain the grasses, trees, and insects. The second tier of the food chain would contain plant and insect eaters, such as the white-tail deer, turtles, fish, amphibians, and the West Indian manatee. Finally, the predators are the Florida panther, the American alligator, and the American crocodile. Without the alligator, the Everglades might not survive.
During the dry season (December through April), alligators dig out pockets, or holes, in the limestone. “Gator holes” are one of the few places in the park where there is standing water during the winter months. These holes become home to many insects, turtles, fish, and wading birds. During the summer wet season, these same animals are spread throughout the “river of grass. ” (Robbins, 2011). As more land is exploited and suffers land-use change from population pressure, parks and preserves are becoming increasingly insular “habitat islands” in a sea of human-dominated or human- altered landscapes.
This trend is expected to intensify as global population increases. (Rosier & Herding, 2011). With the global population increasing so drastically every minute of every day, the demand for more buildings and housing rises also, causing invasion in the plant and animal habitats that were once sacred and protected from such dangers. Humans hunting the animals that inhabit the Everglades National Park also impact the preservation of the park’s ecosystem, due to the declining number of species inhabiting the park.
Although there are many species that live in the Everglades National Park on he endangered species list, that does not stop people that hunt for a living because there are so many different species inhabiting the park. Any new development projects or fishing and hunting of any kind effect the preservation of the Everglades National Park. There are many projects and groups set up to restore, protect, and preserve the Everglades National Park, but I am naming only a few of those.
The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERT.) is a framework and guide to restore, protect, and preserve the water resources of central and southern Florida, which includes the Everglades National Park. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEEP) oversees the Everglades Technical Support Program DEEP: Everglades Restoration, which consists of federal and state agencies, two American Indian tribes, counties and municipal governments, industry, commercial and private sectors, and special interest groups.
Friends of the Everglades, is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the Everglades. (1000 Friends of Florida, 2011 The groups that I have named above, along with many other groups and organizations that I have not mentioned, maintain constant records of eater levels, pollution levels, and such in order to stay on top of the process of preserving the Everglades National Park.
The efforts that have been made to help further the preservation of the Everglades National Park include the continued protection of the land and animals that inhabit the land of the park. There are water samples that are taken to determine the amount of pollutants that are in the water, which could be harmful to the plants and animals that inhabit the park. Then extensive measures are taken to reduce the amount of those pollutants.
The many different groups and organizations that help to reserve, protect, and restore the Everglades National Park are continuously taking advantage of all resources that may be available to them in order to continue protecting the park’s ecosystem. There is always “those few people” that would like to see something go other than planned, therefore they try to intervene with the protection, preservation, and restoration projects in some ways, such as hunting the animals in the park or purposely polluting the water and such.
Anyone is capable of helping protect, preserve, and restore the natural habitat of the Everglades National Park by joining one of the support roofs or organizations involved in doing so or they can just help by cleaning up trash and other visual pollutants on land or in the water, of course being careful not to become prey to any of the animals, such as the American alligator or the American crocodile. The process of “word of mouth” can also help to protect, preserve, and restore the Everglades National Park by asking everyone you know to help with the preservation process and also tell their friends so it will go along the line of friends.
The more people that know about it, means the more help there will be with the protection of the natural park. Just keeping the land and water clean of trash and debris, and protecting the land from possible future development helps tremendously with the preservation process. Keeping motorized boats out of the water and using air powered or human powered boats, such as paddle boats or canoes also helps preserve the natural habitat of the park.
If I was a community board member or in the position to make a proposal in order to help with the preservation of the Everglades National Park, I would propose to stop all future development projects, such as housing and building projects, throughout the park although the human population is rowing so rapidly. Without preservation of the Everglades National Park, most of the animals would become extinct. The constant growth of development is the number reason for animals becoming extinct, next to them being hunted by humans.
I would also propose to encourage the public in the surrounding communities to help out with the preservation projects throughout the area. If human intrusion of the Everglades National Park’s natural habitat goes unchecked, it would cause havoc on all of the surrounding areas by running some of the animals out of the park and into the neighboring communities ND killing off the rest of them. The park serves as a vital recharge area for the Biscayne Aquifer, a major source of fresh water for Miami and south-east Florida.
It would cause so much pollution that the natural clean water supply would no longer exist for the surrounding communities, which would cause people to get sick and possibly die from drinking the severely polluted water. The people that live in the surrounding areas of the park may not all know it, but their main water supply comes from the Everglades National Park and without that, there really is not life, as water is the key to life.
