Everglades Ecosystem Research Paper

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Ecosystem Structure, Function, and Change Tavares Taylor Sci/256 September 3, 2014 Professor Karina Villalba The representative natural ecosystem I have chosen in my area is The Everglades, better known in the 1700’s to the Seminoles as Pa-hay-okee, meaning Grassy Water. The major structural and functional dynamics of the Everglades consist of many interdependent ecosystems. These complex systems change a lot over the years, shifting formation, growing in some areas but shrinking in other areas killing vegetation from droughts but later reappearing after weather conditions gets moist and hotter. Sad to say but conditions can get extremely hot causing fires. Fortunately the wetlands needs these fires that which in turn helps to create, maintain or restore the ecosystems surrounding them. The main piece of the Everglades is the sawgrass marshland. Free flowing channels of water called sloughs cultivate between the sawgrass.…show more content…
Without taking care of the marshlands and taking into consideration that it produces a large supply of water for the urban areas, the Everglades will soon deteriorate. Now with the everglades deteriorating and more and more building being built, the more we as a city will be restricted to our water usage and subject to more contaminated water. It will also ruin a large rate of tourism the Everglades brings and the local commercial fishing industry. Knowing the problem at hand Governor Lawton Chiles appointed a report of these predictions. In 1999 the seven year report called the Restudy from the 1992 Water Development Act, went public pin pointing harm taking place in the ecosystem. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) signed by President Bill Clinton on December 11, 2000 went into effect. To date an estimated 2 billion has been spent on numerous projects such as Storm Water Treatment Areas that filter tons of phosphorus from Everglades

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