Extra Slides On the Everglades National Park

Everglades National Park Essay

Benjamin SaintFort

Joseph Lopez Wilen

Lena Nguyen

Everglades National Park

The Everglades National Park is located in the southern tip of Florida. The Everglades are one of the subtropical wetlands located in Florida. The Everglades has the climate of mainly subtropical. The Everglades temperatures varies due to the two different types of dry/wet seasons. In the wet season, the temperature averages out to be 27° C which is 80°F. In the dry season, the temperature averages out to be 21° C which is also 70° F. As for their humidity, it also depends in which seasons they're in for example, the humidity in the wet season is generally high and could be about 90% or more while in the dry season, the humidity should not hit higher than 90% or more but less since in dry season, it's supposedly cool.

The population I choose was the American Alligator or the Alligator Mississippiensis. The American Alligator lives off the southeast coast of North Carolina all the way down to Florida and also Texas. The place where there are the most Alligators is the Louisiana swamps because of the abundance of food and the swamp is huge so there is a lot of room. The America Alligator plays a huge part in the Everglades ecosystem they are the main predator and without the American Alligator the swamps would be over flooded with fish and other animals that the alligator eats.

The America Alligator lives in a couple ecosystems this includes freshwater swamps, mangroves, canals, and rarely in the ocean. The America Alligator eats a lot of animals it’s the top predator of the swamp and only eat meat so they are carnivores. Some of the foods the American Alligator eats are fish, small mammals, birds, turtles, snakes, frogs, anoles, and invertebrates. The bigger stronger American Alligator has been known to rarely eat deer, cattle and in urban areas have eaten dogs. American Alligators has only two predator humans and its self this means that bigger alligators eat smaller alligators. Some behavior problems are that they are extremely territorial to the point where they will kill another alligator and not even eat it just kill it for fun.

Agriculture and urban development has reduced Everglades Ecosystem to half its original size. Florida’s population grew and so did the demand of water and agriculture. There are water-control measures that try to hold fresh water for Everglades. That water is released in the wet and dry seasons. People try to make water cleaner by having less pollution and creating habitats. Most of the Everglades is made of houses people live in. Many animals are losing their home. Agriculture helps to make food for survival, while more animals need a home. Agriculture decreases the animal population of the Everglades. Certain animals adapt to wet seasons while other animals adapt to dry ones. An apple snail and alligator have their habitats in high water lines. With the control of the water flow,floods have damaged or destroyed the habitats. Water diversion alone has destroyed 65% of the original Everglades Ecosystem. Since human also kill some of the animals for sports, people think that endangered species should not be protected, since they can not survive in a world modified by humans. The need of humans for clothes and equipments has led them to kill more animals The Everglades is where many distinct organisms live in.