Mans Impact on the Everglades Essay

Man has never been content to leave the natural preserved in the state in which it was discovered. Likewise, the Everglades ecosystem has been bombarded by this pressure as man seeks to design the environs to suit the needs of the ever encroaching human population. This has brought astir(predicate) profound changes in this system and the way it operates. Collectors were among the first to extract a toll on this field of operation because of its exotic indigenous creatures. Species which now stage extinction admit several varieties of unusual Orchids and ferns, Florida tree snails, and the indigo snake. un little the impact of collectors is not merely limited to the dis step to the foreance of species. For example, collectors burned Hardwood Hammocks to hasten collecting tree snails. The high demand for feathers as the plumes of ladies hats also be the clean Egret at oneness time. An other source of destruction includes tally road vehicles such as air boats and swamp buggi es used to accomplish the difficult terrain. These vehicles create ever widening soil ruts because the tracks argon tricky and subsequent vehicles avoid them.Because hydroperiod plays a powerful role in habitat determination, even a slight change in wet erudition can profoundly loading the composition of the ecosystem. Channels interrupting sheet decrease provide an alternate route for the body of water. Vegetation is uprooted and lost, as a result, enhancing the likelihood of invasion by opportunistic species such as cattails. In n earlier areas, off road vehicles have resulted in the upon of tree islands. Melaleuca, an Australian tree, poses a different kind of the nemesis that of introduced species.The trees overtake Sawgrass marshes and Cypress swamps in areas reduced by drainage. Their tolerance of fire further enhances their spread. Eventually, dense forests smorgasbord which exclude the natural vegetation and dry up the environment. Brazilian white pepper began i ts stay in the Florida area as an ornamental. Like the Melaleuca, it forms a closed(a) forest, destroying feeding areas of many water shits. Brazilian pepper primarily overtakes coastal lowlands and pinelands. Over 200 plant species have been introduced successfully into the Everglades environment. Plants are not the whole successful invaders.The Blue Tilapia, an animal intruder, grows too large to be eaten by the walk birds, while creating a devastating effect on the aquatic plant life. By far the most serious effect of man on the environment remains the alterations of water flow patterns for rustic and metropolitan purposes. The direct channeling of fresh water from Lake Okeechobee to the coast alters sheet flow, create soil fires and saltwater backflow. Faced by these ever worsening scenarios, the important and southernmostern Florida Project for Flood Control and early(a) Purposes (C&SF) took over the bedevil in 1948.First, the C&SF built a perimeter to thwart wallop of the sheet flow on developing metropolitan areas. Second, agriculture reclaim the Okeechobee by draining the Lake swamp and rerouting the water to the body of water Conservation prolific land directly south of Areas to the south. Total, Water Conservation Areas, which regulate water flow toprevent flowage and drought, now represent 32 % of the original Everglades ecosystem. Everglades theme Park, established in 1947, only contains 25% of the historic fresh water system. Other problems facing this ecosystem include the loss of wild life species diversity.Like the Snowy Egret, alligators, hunted for their hides, almost reached extinction until their sale was prohibited by law. Since that time, populations rebounded, however, bird populations still face intense reducing pressures. Wading birds follow the drying movement during the drydown as the water flow concentrates prey at its b arrangement. Wading birds, therefore, only need make minor adjustments to determine the position of food daily. Consequently, larger rookeries and breeding seasons coordinate with the water flow so the drydown approaches the nest, allowing the parents to fly less distance every successive day.The intrusion of the Water Conservation Areas though places this pattern in serious jeopardy. The levee system interrupts the drydown as conditions on one side whitethorn not correlate with conditions on the other. For example, birds following a drydown front may reach a levee only to discover that the across the embankment, the water is too deep or the drydown in that area may have already occurred. The birds then moldiness search other areas for other prey concentrations which may not exist, seriously impairing successful reproduction.Use of the conservation areas for flood control and unnatural releasing of water also adversely effects these communities. Often this reverses the drydown fronts. Changes in the dry/wet season cycle, likewise, cloak alligator reproduction, interrupting courtship and often drowning their eggs. Alteration of alligator nesting patterns adversely affects the wading bird population because their holes customarily congregate prey during the low water season. Although, the canal construction provides alligators a substituted habitat, these canals are sufficiently deeper and steeper than tralatitious gator nesting holes.Consequently, wading birds can not effectively harvest prey. nutrient rich agricultural water released from the land reclaimed below Lake Okeechobee has change magnitude the proliferation of cattails. Cattail encroached areas do not encourage food supplies for wading birds, essentially removing this wetland area from use. However, the South Florida Water Management District has begun an experimental program utilise peat soil beds to remove this the Tempter from the water supply entering the Everglades region. Methylmercury, a highly toxic form of mercury, recently has been found in regional fauna in unusually high lev els.The food web concentrates this chemical in the systems top predators, causing mutations, abnormal ripening and neurological disorders. Although, agriculture was originally blamed for this elevation, historical evidence provides a more accepted theory. According to this hypothesis, soil formations naturally trap lesser amounts of mercury. Recent drainage and oxidation of the soil caused its release. Sugarcane burning, and incineration of other products including dodo fuel have also received blame for this phenomenon. Interestingly though, an reverse relationship appears to exist between phosphorous and mercury levels.The diversion of freshwater directly to the ocean from Lake Okeechobee also adversely affects Florida Bay. The lack of water pass through the bay caused a severe increase in hypersalinity, sidesplitting seagrass beds, mangroves, fish, sponges, and birds. The hypersalinity level approximately doubles that of sea water. However, projects undertaken to remedy thi s situation appear to at least initially effective. Other reasons for this salinity increase include the lack of major storm systems recently in this area. Accumulation of sediments and shoaling prevent the bay from flushing out naturally, causing stagnation.Also the construction of Highway 1 and the Overseas Railroad may have contributed to the problem, hampering further the circulation of water. Any enterprise by man to undo the damage perpetrated must come from a comprehensive understanding of the function and operation of the original ecosystem in order to prevent further well intentioned catastrophes. Wading birds, because of their high position on the food chain, serve as trustworthy indicators of change on this touchy environment. However, the main problem to be address is not one of cry of the Everglades in particular, but mankinds underlying philosophy concerning our environment.We must realize that our survival remains closely linked with that of our surroundings. Any t hreat to our biosphere will eventually cycle through and return to affect us. The coming back of the Everglades is an ongoing effort to remedy damage inflicted on the environment of grey Florida during the 20th century. It is the most expensive and comprehensive environmental repair fire in history. 12 The degradation of the Everglades became an issue in the United States in the early 1970s after a proposal to construct a jetport in the Big Cypress Swamp.Studies indicated the airport would have destroyed the ecosystem in South Florida and Everglades National Park. 3 After decades of destructive practices, both state and federal agencies are looking for ways to balance the needs of the natural environment in South Florida with urban and agricultural centers that have recently and rapidly bounteous in and near the Everglades. In response to floods caused by hurricanes in 1947, the exchange and Southern Florida Flood Control Project (C&SF) was established to construct flood contro l devices in the Everglades.The C&SF built 1,400 miles (2,300 km) of canals and levees between the 1950s and 1971 passim South Florida. Their last venture was the C-38 canal, which straightened the Kissimmee River and caused catastrophic damage to animal habitats, adversely affecting water quality in the region. The canal became the first C&SF project to be reverted when the 22-mile (35 km) canal began to be backfilled, or refilled with the material excavated from it, in the 1980s. The restoration of the Kissimmee River is projected to continue until 2011.When high levels of phosphorus and mercury were discovered in the waterways in 1986, water quality became a focus for water management agencies. Costly and lengthy court battles were waged between various regimen entities to determine who was responsible for monitoring and enforcing water quality standards. Governor Lawton Chiles proposed a bill that determined which agencies would have that responsibility, and set deadlines for pollutant levels to decrease in water. ab initio the bill was criticized by conservation groups for not being strict adequate on polluters, but the Everglades Forever Act was passed in 1994.Since then, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers have surpassed expectations for achieving lower phosphorus levels. A commission appointed by Governor Chiles published a piece of music in 1995 stating that South Florida was unable to sustain its growth, and the deterioration of the environment was negatively affecting daily life for residents in South Florida. The environmental decline was predicted to harm tourism and commercial interests if no actions were taken to plosive current trends.Results of an eight-year study that evaluated the C&SF were submitted to the United States Congress in 1999. The report warned that if no action was taken the region would rapidly deteriorate. A dodging called the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Pla n (CERP) was enacted to restore portions of the Everglades, Lake Okeechobee, the Caloosahatchee River, and Florida Bay to undo the damage of the past 50 years. It would take 30 years and cost $7. 8 billion to complete. Though the plan was passed into law in 2000, it has been compromised by government and funding problems.