What images are conjured up in your head when you think of the Florida Everglades? Do you simply think of a swamp?
Can you feel the sweltering humidity? Do you think of mysterious sounds of animals? You probably think of alligators swimming in the water next to the tangled roots of the mangrove forest.
You know what I think of? I think of all the high pitch buzzing. “Buzzing?” you might ask. Yes! The buzzing of all those mosquitoes swarming in the air!
These are all things you will find here. However, the Everglades is so much more than just another swamp. It is a unique ecosystem that supports diverse plant and animal life found nowhere else.
The Florida Everglades is located in the southern third of the Florida peninsula. How did it come to be?
The River of Grass
The Kissimmee River near Orlando flows into the shallow but massive Lake Okeechobee. During the wet season, runoff from this lake forms an extremely slow-moving river that can reach 60 miles across and over 100 miles long, emptying into the Florida Bay.
Before diverting the water from the Florida Everglades for agriculture and land development, this river was capable of storing fresh water from one wet season to the next in limestone aquifers underground.
Wildlife in the Everglades
This ecosystem supports an immense population of wildlife. There are more than 360 species of birds alone, like the Tricolored heron.
Other native wildlife that is found in the Florida Everglades include reptiles, amphibians and mammals. Infamous to the Everglades is the alligator and the American crocodile. The gopher tortoise and many species of turtles call the Florida Everglades home. There are also manatees, raccoon, skunk, opossum, bobcat, fox, deer and the Florida panther.
Some invasive species have gained notoriety in the Everglades in recent years as well, such as the Burmese python, cane toad, iguana, and the African rock python.
Diverse Ecosystems in the Florida Everglades
The Everglades is made up of many interdependent ecosystems. These ecosystems include sawgrass prairies, cypress swamps, estuarine mangrove forests, and tropical hardwood hammocks.
Natural Forces that shape the Florida Everglades
Some of the natural forces that shape the land here are rock, fire, and, most importantly, water. Thunderstorms during the wet season produce downpours.These torrential rainstorms can drop five inches of water in one hour. The saturation level of the underlying bedrock or limestone determines how long the Everglades stay in a flooded state.
Fire is also an important natural force here, which is started mainly by lightning strikes. But what does fire do?
Fire supports specific plant growth, preserving the sawgrass prairies and keeping undergrowth down. It also keeps the ground fertile, releasing nutrients into the soil quicker and more efficiently than decaying organic matter.
Visit the Everglades
The Florida Everglades is truly a one-of-a-kind ecosystem that we should all treasure and preserve. It’s also one of the only remaining places in South Florida far enough away from light pollution to see an unobstructed dark sky.
If you travel to South Florida, please check out this incredible and fascinating landscape. Just remember to bring sunscreen and mosquito spray!
For more information…
To see a stunning three minute video and meet the wild residents that call the Everglades home, check out this incredible video from National Geographic.