The Florida Everglades

The Florida Everglades

by Crystal Guerrero & Fahad Nathani

Historical State of the Ecosystem 

     Located along the southern tip of Florida, the Everglades has long been recognized as the one of the world’s most distinctive wetland ecosystems. Comprised of a series of interconnected rivers, lakes, and estuaries, the Florida Everglades stretches from Lake Okeechobee to the Gulf of Mexico and the 10,000 islands and at one point spanned over 8 million acres of land. The Everglades is distinct among the world’s large wetlands because it derives its water from rainfall runoff, whereas other large wetlands mostly depend on river flooding. Additionally, it is the only subtropical wilderness in the U.S. occurring due to the combination of ocean currents, climate, and geographical location. The Everglades is home to a variety of native wildlife, such as the wading bird. In particular, it is the only place in the world where the American Crocodile and the American Alligator coexist together. Early inhabitants treated the river with care and accord, referring to the river as “Pahayokee.” which means “the grassy waters”. 

Human Impacts on the Ecosystem 

     After the arrival of colonial settlers, the human impact on the Florida Everglades has been especially detrimental. As early as the 1800s, settlers began exploiting the land for agricultural and domestic purposes. Initially, these settlers thought the Everglades was a useless swampland, not knowing that it was actually a slowly moving river that was highly dependent on the flow of water through the system. As a result, they began to dig canals and create dams throughout the Everglades in order to drain the water to make the land more inhabitable. The drainage of the water would provide fertile land so that the new settlers could increase their farming and would be able to build homes in the surrounding area. Severe hurricanes in the 1920s and 1940s caused Congress to pass the Central and Southern Florida Project in 1948, which allowed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to construct a complex water management system in an effort to control the flood waters that occurred frequently in south Florida. Although this intricate system of canals levees did help control the flood waters, it drastically interrupted the natural water flow, which was crucial to the life of the Everglades ecosystem. Also, to reduce drought, the water levels were kept extremely high which led to a decline in plant species. Due to this type of human intervention that escalated in the 1950s, the Everglades is about half its original size today. It is now divided into over 1000 miles of canals and dams, and water control areas that distribute water to coastal towns and cities.

     Water pollution has also played a negative role with the state of the Everglades. Phosphorus from pollution has lead in an overflow of nutrients to the plants, which then kills them off. The disproportion of nutrients also alters wildlife communities. Consequently, the fishing industry and wildlife tourism has also decline with the wading bird and other rare endangered species such as the Cape Sable seaside Sparrow and the Florida Panther. The Wading bird population has now decreased by 93% since the 1930's and there are now 67 endangered or threatened species residing in the Everglades. The evasion of exotic plants is also adding to the deterioration natural domain. As a consequence, plants and animals that once thrived in this habitable ecosystems can no longer rely on the natural resources that once benefited their growth.

Future Prospects of the Ecosystem 

     Even with the institution of the Everglades National Forest in 1947 that recognized it as an international biosphere reserve, the Everglades’ conditions continued to decline well through the end of the 20th century and the start of the 21st century. As signs of human ecological impact on the Florida Everglades were becoming more apparent, pressures began mounting to begin efforts to restore the ecosystem and make south Florida’s water use more sustainable. In the late 1990s, groups of environmental agencies and organizations met to collaborate in formulating a plan for reforming south Florida’s water systems to help recover the ecosystem while still meeting its water needs. Consequently, in 2000 President Clinton in cooperation with Congress passed the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, or CERP, a multi-billion dollar plan aimed at safeguarding south Florida’s natural ecosystems while improving water supply techniques and maintaining food control. Expected to take more than 20 years to implement, the CERP would prove to be the “largest environmental restoration project in the nation’s history.”(Dept. Fl.). The plan focuses on restoring a more natural flow of water to the 2.4 million acres of wetland in order to revive the natural habitat. Another major goal is keeping proper flood control while continuing a reliable supply of water to the millions of Floridians residing in the area. In short, today Florida is trying its best to make its water control systems as sustainable as possible. Although the Everglades’ unique ecosystem could never be restored to its original form, efforts from state and federal governments would focus on making the damage as minimal as possible.

What Should be Done?

     Environmental policy at the state and governmental level appears as though it is the most important factor in the preservation of the Florida Everglades today, because without regulation by the government, exploitation of the ecosystem would only continue to increase and no significant change could be made. South Florida still remains a popular tourist destination and a center of prime real estate today and as a result corporations and industries would continue abusing the land unless regulated or warned about their misuse. Thus Congress and state governments must work together to pass legislation smoothly as well as ensure it gets carried out by the local governments. In order to do this effectively, local governments also should raise awareness and educate residents and nearby industries of their damaging impacts on the ecosystem while also informing them of the negative implications for so that they may favor sustainable changes more for the future prospects of their company. This would make rallying support for the legislation much smoother. Cost-sharing is a great incentive for doing so, because splitting the costs of these restoration projects with the government would help appease some profit-driven corporations. Although Congress has made progress passing plans like the CERP, due to bureaucratic conflict in the years following its approval its implementation came to a standstill. Because reducing the population of humans residents would involve people being moved and thus less likely, maintaining a sustainable distribution of water seems like a more realistic solution to the Everglades’ problem, as water is a crucial element to the area. Reforming the area’s levees and water irrigation systems to better distribute the water. Furthermore, using well-tested modern technologies would ensure that the Everglades would be receiving the most cost-effective treatment and ensure that south Florida will not be making the same mistake as it did in the 1950s. Nevertheless, action is needed to make the south Floridians’ relationship with their environment more enriching for such a national biodiversity landmark.

Further Data

Reference List

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Dinerstein, E., A. Weakley, R. Noss, R. Tipton, and K. Wolfe. "Everglades ." www.worldwildlife.org. N.p., 2001.

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      <http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/circular/1182/>.

"Everglades Restoration." Florida. N.p., 20/01/2011. 

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      <http://www.dep.state.fl.us/secretary/everglades/>.

Davis, Steven, and Steven Ogden. Everglades: The Ecosystem and It's Restoration. CRC Press, 1994. eBook.       <http://books.google.com/books?id=yIBAHbgWxTAC&dq=everglades&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s>.