Everglades [antikvár]

Tiw C\-crgladcs has a histay of things Lj, unuis^'.^vrred. and thoiight without redeeming vniiK until the brink of extinction threatens ami man finally wakes up. Tlic earliest known inhabitants, the Tequesta and Calusa Indians, were completely eradicated, now we manvi at their cultures through studies of the ruin.-; of their civilizations by archaeologists. The great wading birds, once numbering in i/h millions, irf/v reduced to afraction of their former populations by the greed qfjeather merchants whose eravingfcrprofits nearly caused mass extinction as they relentlessly raided rookeries and slaughtered birdsJor a hand/id of feathers to adorn women's hats. Alligators and crocodiles were nearly hunted out of e.xistence so their hides could be used in luggage, shoes, and handbags. Species by species, theflora and fauna of the Everglades has come to the brink, the Florida panthers and the manatees are there today, and each time a hand/id of dedicated people fight to bring them back. Today, it is not a handful of individual species that are threatened, it is the entire ecosystem that is now on the line. Saving it will take more than a handful of concerned people it will take education and cooperation by the media, politicians, and the general public. The good nnvs. with the addition of vita! acreage to the park and the current ra-ersal of earlier water management mistakes to the Everglades' ecosystem, its beginning to happen now.INTRODUCTIONAlthough Everglades National Park is the best known preserve in Florida and one of the best known National Parks in the United States, it is far from being the only national preserve, or park, on the Florida Peninsula. The state of Florida is home to two National Parks, two National Seashores, three National Forests, and many national wildlife refuges and state parks.Florida, a 477 mile long peninsula bordered on one side by the Atlantic Ocean and on the other by the Gulf of Mexico, has the longest coastline of any state in the continental U. S., and is home to the second largest body of freshwater found in the country. These sea and freshwater systems are two of the most important ingredients in creating the unique environments found on the Florida Peninsula. Warm water currents bordering the coastlines bring subtropical weather to the area, and the freshwater present in more than 30,000 lakes and other bodies of water, form an intricate interconnected ecological system throughout southern regions of the state, giving birth to a mixture of tropical and temperate plants and animals unique in all of Nort:h America.In this unique environment the Everglades were fornied. Named "Pa-Hay-Okee", or grassy waters by its early Indian inhabitants, later popularized as the "River of Grass", by famous author Marjorie Stoneman Douglas in her 1947 book of the same name, the Everglades are part of a large interconnected ecosystem through which lakes, streams, sloughs, and wetlands extend firom the north of Lake Okeechobee to Orlando and above, and south to Florida Bayand the Gulf of Mexico. The Everglades are in fact a long shallow river, up to 50 miles wide and more than 100 miles long, which originally flowed unobstracted from Lake Okeechobee to waters of Florida Bay. Because the peninsula is extremely flat, with a slope of only two to three inches per mile, waters of the Everglades appear to barely flow as they move southward.The heart of the Everglades system is the wet season and wate'rs of Lake Okeechobee, the blood is the freshwater which has been flowing southwest on the Florida Peninsula for millenniums. This massive ecosystem is the habitat for countless species of plants and animals Cunently, more than 1,000 species of seed bearing plants are known to exist in the Everglades, along with some 120 species of trees, and countless shmbs, vines, and more primitive species of fems, mosses, and lichens. All of which depend on the life blood of the Everglades, the unobstracted flow of water.Everglades National Park is home to more than 40 species of mammals, including white tailed deer, black bear, and the endangered Florida Panther; 3 species of aquatic mammals including the endangered West Indian manatee; more than 350 different bird species including some of the rarest and most beautiful species found in the U.S.; and more than fifty species of reptiles including alligators and crocodiles.Unwise water management policies in the last cenmiy have drastically altered the flow of the Everglades, as water was diverted for growing populations and agriculmral projects. Namral balance of the Everglades has been upset, with results that threaten the entire ecosystem.Preceditrg Pages: Palmetto and cattails under the clear skies of Everglades National Park.PHOTO BY DAVID MUENCHLeft: Reddish Egrets are active feeders in shallow waters employing a special technique known as canopy feeding. The Reddish Egret forages with lis wings spread over the water, creating pools of shadow, through which it can better see its prey.PHOTO BY ART WOLFERight; Mangrove at Florida Bay. For many years mangroves were removed to make room for more and more land development Today, we know that the mangroves are instrumental in the formation of additional landmass and in protection of coastal areas fi:om the ravages of weather and tides.PHOrO BY DAVID MUENCH