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Everglades
Around the early 1900's the Everglades, which was roughly 11,000 square miles, was drained to form farmland, devasting the ecosystem and its inhabitants. The devastation was stopped in 1947 when the Everglades was named a national park. -
Climate
From December to April it's relatively mild. In the winter, the low is 53 degrees Fahrenheit and the high is 77. During the summer, it's hot and humid; and the temperature stays around 90 degrees Fahrenheit with about 90% humidity. The rainy season begins in June and goes through October. The average rainfall is 60 inches a year. Hurricane season falls within the rainy season, lasting from June to November. -
Weather
Around this time, the weather is in the mid-high 80's and mostly cloudly with a chance of rain or thunderstorms. The sun will peek through after a rain or storm. -
Abiotic Factors
One abiotic factor that's essential to all life within the ecosystem is water. Another abiotic factor is limestone, which affects how long something is flooded. Flooding can affect certain organisms, like the wood stork, which hunts in specific water conditions. Fire is also an abiotic factor, but it destroys instead of helps. Other abiotic factors include the weather, sun, and temperature. -
Autotrophs
Some of the autotrophs include: photosynthetic periphyton, pine rockland forest, Australian pine, latherleaf, old world climbing fern, and Brazilian pepper. -
Consumers
There are numerous consumers within the Everglades. These are only a few examples:
Amphibians-Florida cricket frog, oak frog, and southern toad
Birds-snail kite, wood stork, and white-crowned pigeon
Insects/Spiders/Centipedes/Millipedes-Zebra longwing butterfly, eyed click beetle, and golden silk orb weaver
Mammals-bats, West Indian manatee, and Florida panther
Reptiles-American alligator and crocodile, Eastern indigo snake, and sea turles
Fish-bluegill, mosquito fish, and gulf toadfish -
Decomposers
Decomposers mainly consist of bacteria and worms. -
Climax Community
Within the Everglades, the hammock forests are considered a climax community. They are broad leaved trees found on high elevations, making it a dry habitat. They resemble a shady, tropical forest. -
Species Diversity
The Everglades is very rich in species diversity. It has tiny photosynthetic periphyton, fish, deer, bobcats, manatees, crocodiles and alligators, birds ranging from a duck to a parrot, and much more. The Everglades is also home to endangered species like the Florida Panther, which are under constant watch due to their few numbers. -
Endemic Species
There are close to 800 native seed-bearing plants in the Everglades. Some of them are: photosynthetic periphyton, pine rockland forest, bromeliads, and epiphytic orchids. But 113 of the native speices are endangered and 47 are listed as threatened. -
Keystone Species
American alligators are thought of as the keystone species. The female alligators' nesting activities are important for creating peat, and a lot of turtles lay their eggs in alligator nests to keep them warm. Alligator holes are importnat as well because water collects in them thoughout the year, so during the dry season these holes are a haven for different organisms. But the haven comes at a risk becuase the organisms that take shelter there are easy pickings for the alligators. -
Food Web
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Interspecies Interaction
An example of interspecies interaction can be found between American alligators and Florida red-bellied turtles. The American alligator builds its nest, and the Florida red-bellied turles use the nests to keep their eggs warm. This arrangement can be both mutually beneficial and mutually harmful. It's benefial because both the alligator and the turtle use the nest to hatch their eggs, but it can be harmful because the alligator could eat the turtle. -
Hurricane
A hurricane hits the Everglades and devastates the ecosystem. It kills most of the organims, but the soil remains intact. This is considered a secondary succession. -
Increase in Sea-Level
The increase in sea-level brought on by the hurricane wrecked havoc in the Everglades. Due to the high level of seawater dumped into the freshwater of the Everglades, the salinity increased. The increase in salinity caused a decrease in survival for seedlings and alligators (which cannot tolerate high levels of salintity), it decreased the peat because of an increase in anaerobic decomposition, and it decreased the precipitation, which had a large impact on the plants and producers. -
Increase in Sea-Level Continued
The increase in sea-level also killed off the mangrove trees, destroying the natural barrier for storms, and decreased the ground elevation, which affected the hammock forests because they need high elevation and dry ground. -
Debris
Due to the destruction of trees, like mangroves and hammock forests, there were enormous piles of debris. The piles of debris contained 3-5 times more nitrogen, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium than normal. The decomposition of this large of an increase in organic matter lowered the oxygen levels. -
Emergence of Plants
After about two months, some plants start to return. Among those returning are lichen, sawgrass, and various others. -
One Year Later
After a year, more plants have emerged and some trees as well. The hammock forests are starting to come back. -
75 Years Later
The hammock forests have mostly grown back, but they no longer resemble a shady, tropical forest. Now, more sunlight penetrates through and it sits at a lower elevation, causing the ground to be more wet than before. As a result, species that used to live in similar enviornments, now live in the hammock forests. Those species have extended their enviornment to include the forests. -
75 Years Later Continued
After 75 years, some of the species became extinct. A few that went extinct were the Florida panther, West Indian manatee, tree cactus, and mangrove. The American alligator was nearly wiped out, only a handful are left. As of now, the American alligator is no longer the keystone species because of its decrease in population size, and because the Everglades hold more water than before, like in the hammock forests, so alligator holes aren't as much of a necessity. -
Group Members
Katelyn Kelly, Brooke Bissell, Erin Hodge, Jordan Whiteneck, and Sarah Davison
