Everglades National Park is a huge natural area in southern Florida that encompasses the southwestern portion of the larger Everglades region. It is the largest remaining subtropical wilderness in the United States.
Florida Everglades national park
Florida Everglades National Park was approved in 1934, but it did not open until 1947 due to land acquisition challenges. In 1976, UNESCO declared it a biosphere reserve, and in 1979, it was listed as a World Heritage Site (together with Dry Tortugas National Park).
The park has been extended multiple times, the most recent being in 1989. It spans 2,357 square miles (6,105 square kilometres), including the majority of Florida Bay, and protects a diverse range of temperate and tropical species, as well as freshwater and marine habitats.
The Big Cypress National Preserve forms part of its northern border. Biscayne National Park is on the Atlantic coast to the east, while Dry Tortugas National Park is on the western end of the Florida Keys to the southwest.
Things to do in everglades
Natural history exhibits can be found at numerous visitor centers around Everglades National Park. Boating and canoeing are popular in the park, and there are numerous recognized canoe trails, including the 99-mile (159-kilometer) Wilderness Waterway on the park’s western border. In some areas of the park, private firms also offer guided tram and boat tours.
Hurricane Andrew in 1992 wreaked havoc on the forested areas and the main visitor centre. From 1993 to 2007, the park was on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger as a result of the hurricane. Because of worries about decreased water flow into the Everglades and increased pollution levels there, it was re-added to the list in 2010.
Everglades national park facts
The Everglades is a subtropical Sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense) marsh region comprising more than 4,300 square miles (11,100 square km) in southern Florida, United States. It is a “river of grass” up to 50 miles (80 km) broad but generally less than 1 foot (0.3 metre) deep.
Sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense) is a member of the sedge family with sharp teeth along the edges of each blade. For the majority of the year, sawgrass marshes are flooded. The growth of sawgrass is determined by the hydroperiod, as well as the depth of the water.
Water flows slowly southward through it, eventually reaching the mangrove swamps that border the Gulf of Mexico to the southwest and Florida Bay to the south. The marsh reaches the narrow, sandy belt of the Miami metropolitan area to the east and connects with the Big Cypress Swamp to the west.
Everglades is a phrase that is only used in Florida. Ever may have alluded to the marsh’s seemingly endless extent; glade has been used to refer to an open, grassy region in the forest or a damp, swampy location.
The Everglades are located in a shallow limestone-floored basin with a 2.4-inch-per-mile southern slope (about 4 cm per km). Saw grass (a sedge with minute sharp teeth on the edges) grows to a height of 4 to 10 feet and covers a large portion of it (1.2 to 3 meters).
It’s not uncommon to come upon open water. Different ecosystems are created by little differences in the elevation of the land and the salt content of the water.
The estuary of Florida Bay is covered in sea grass and serves as a fish nursery. In tidal locations where fresh and salt water mix, mangroves also serve as nurseries and feeding places for wading birds. Salt-tolerant succulents and cordgrass thrive on coastal prairies.
Tropical (mahogany, cocoplum, and strangler fig) and temperate (saw palmetto, live oak, and red maple) trees grow in thick stands on minor slopes, creating islands in the Sawgrass marsh, and sloughs; domes of cypress or willow can also be seen. Dry ridges are home to pinelands dominated by slash pine.
Near Lake Okeechobee, organic soils ranging from discontinuous shallow patches to accumulations of peat and muck 8 to 10 feet (2.4 to 3 meters) thick were created by the breakdown of lush vegetation. Deep mucks located along the lakeside, where a dense tangle of custard, apple, or pond apple, once grew, are the best soils.
Climate in the everglades
The Everglades have a tropical to subtropical climate that is heavily affected by southeast trade winds. Winter frosts are uncommon, with monthly mean temperatures ranging from 63 °F (17 °C) to 82 °F (28 °C). Annual rainfall ranges from 40 to 65 inches (1,000 to 1,650 mm), with the majority falling between May and October.
During that time, the land is almost completely submerged in water. Water levels drop during the dry season (December–April), leaving it studded with shallow ponds.The wetland at Everglades Park is home to around 350 different bird species.
Wading birds like egrets, herons, roseate spoonbills, and ibis; shore and water birds like terns, plovers, rails, and sandpipers; birds of prey like owls, hawks, and ospreys; and a diverse range of songbirds Several species of game fish have made their homes there.
Alligators are the most famous residents of the Everglades, but there are also bobcats, white-tailed deer, river otters, gray foxes, and a variety of snakes, lizards, and turtles. Endangered animals like the manatee, Florida panther, wood stork, American crocodile, and various sea turtle species call the area home. Since the mid-twentieth century, the Everglades’ wading bird population has plummeted.
Everglades park history
The Everglades were termed “Pa-Hay-Okee” by the local Native Americans (“Grassy Water”). Its large expanses of open saw grass served as a passageway for dugout canoes as well as hunting and fishing grounds. Despite the fact that the Everglades had little settlement, mounds survived to demonstrate occupation.
When European explorers first arrived in the 16th century, the adjacent coastal regions were populated by Calusa and Tequesta Indians. Contact with Europeans was marred by fighting, sickness, and other calamities, and by the late 1700s, both of these populations had entirely vanished from the region. The Seminoles were born when Creek people began to settle in the area.
Since white settlers did not value the glades at the time, the Seminoles sought refuge in the swamps and marshes. They created the “chickee,” a house without walls composed of a log framework with a thatched roof atop a raised platform for maximum ventilation.
They harvested nuts, roots, and palmetto berries while planting corn (maize), beans, melons, and squash on higher land. The starchy flour came from the bulbous roots of the coontie plant, and they got most of their food from hunting and fishing. During the Second Seminole War (1835–42), the majority of the Seminoles were forced to flee. The Miccosukee tribe (previously part of the Seminole tribe) lived in the Everglades well into the twenty-first century.
Everglades National Park is a vast area of grassland in southern Florida, the United States. They are shallow limestone-floored basins with a lot of saw grass that grows to be 4 to 10 feet tall (1.2 to 3 meters). It spans about 4,300 square miles (11,100 square kilometres).
Everglades weather
The weather in the Everglades is tropical to subtropical, with strong southeast trade winds. The average monthly temperature ranges from 63 °F (17 °C) to 82 °F (28 °C), with winter frosts occurring only on rare occasions. Rainfall ranges from 40 to 65 inches (1,650 to 1,650 mm) each year, with the majority falling between May and October.
What kinds of birds can be found in the Everglades
More than 350 bird species live in the Everglades, including wading birds, beach and water birds, birds of prey, and a diverse range of songbirds.
Is the Everglades home to any endangered species
Endangered animals such as the manatee, Florida panther, wood stork, American crocodile, and various species of sea turtle call the Everglades home. Since the mid-twentieth century, the Everglades’ wading bird population has plunged.
In the 1700s, Creek people began to migrate to the Everglades, where they became known as Seminoles. They sought refuge in the swamps and marshes until the Second Seminole War (1835–42) pushed them out. The Miccosukee tribe (previously part of the Seminole tribe) lived in the Everglades well into the twenty-first century.
The Everglades subtropical sawgrass marsh region is located in southern Florida, the United States. Water flows slowly through the area, which spans about 4,300 square miles (11,100 square kilometers), from the lip of Lake Okeechobee to mangrove swamps bordering the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Bay. The southwestern portion of the marsh is covered by Everglades National Park, which was established in 1947 and covers 2,357 square miles (6,105 sq km). It is the largest subtropical wilderness in the continental United States, with a warm climate that supports a diverse range of birds, alligators, snakes, and turtles. Drainage canals have regained a substantial amount of the glades, affecting the habitats of numerous species.
