Monticello National Park

An underground reservoir called the Floridan aquifer lies about 1, feet m below the surface of South Florida. Trees often form canopies under which animals thrive amongst scrub bushes of wild coffee Psychotria , white indigoberry Randia aculeata , poisonwood Metopium toxiferum and saw palmetto Serenoa repens. Floods occur during hurricane and tropical storm surges when ocean water can rise several feet over the land.

Everglades National Park

Hydrography[ edit ] While they are common in the northern portion of Floridano underground springs feed water into the Everglades system. An underground reservoir called the Floridan aquifer lies about 1, feet m below the surface of South Florida. Water evaporating from the Everglades becomes rain over metropolitan areas, providing the fresh water supply for the region. Water also flows into the park after falling as rain to the north onto the watersheds of the Kissimmee River and other sources of Lake Okeechobee, to appear in the Everglades days later.

As Florida’s population began to grow significantly and urban areas near the Everglades were developed, Monticello National Park of the park’s establishment faced difficulty in persuading the federal government and the people of Glacier National Park To Great Falls Mt that the subtle and constantly shifting ecosystems in the Everglades were just as worthy of protection.

Freshwater sloughs and marl prairies[ edit ] Alligators thrive in freshwater sloughs and marl prairies. Sawgrass growing to a height of 6 feet 1. Excellent feeding locations for birds, sloughs in the Everglades attract a great variety of waders such as herons Monticello National Park, egretsroseate spoonbills Platalea ajajaibises and brown pelicans Pelecanus occidentalisas well as limpkins Aramus guarauna and snail kites that eat apple snails Glacier National Park To Great Falls Mt, which in turn feed on the sawgrass.

The sloughs’ availability of fish, amphibians, and young birds attract a variety of freshwater turtles, alligator Alligator mississippiensiswater moccasin Agkistrodon piscivorus conantiand eastern diamondback rattlesnake Crotalus adamanteus. Algae and other microscopic organisms form periphytonwhich attaches to limestone. When it dries it turns into a gray mud. Marl prairies are usually under water from three to seven months of the year, whereas sloughs may remain submerged for longer than nine months and sometimes remain under water from one year to the next.

Sawgrass may dominate sloughs, creating a monoculture. Other grasses, such as muhly grass Muhlenbergia filipes and broad-leafed water plants can be found in marl prairies. Marl prairies may go dry in some parts of the year; alligators play a vital role in maintaining life in remote parts of the Everglades by burrowing in the mud during the dry season, creating pools of water where fish and amphibians survive from one year to the next.

Alligator holes also attract other animals who congregate to feed on smaller prey. When the region floods again during the wet season, the fish and amphibians which were sustained in the alligator holes then repopulate freshwater marl prairies.

They rise several inches above the grass-covered river and are dominated by diverse plant life consisting of subtropical and tropical trees, such as large southern live oaks Quercus virginiana. Trees often form canopies under which animals thrive amongst scrub bushes of wild coffee Psychotriawhite indigoberry Randia aculeatapoisonwood Metopium toxiferum and saw palmetto Serenoa repens. The park features thousands of these tree islands amid sloughs—which often form the shape of a teardrop when seen from above see park map because of the slowly moving water around them—but they can also be found in pineland and mangroves.

Trees in the Everglades, including wild tamarind Lysiloma latisiliquum and gumbo-limbo Bursera simarubararely grow higher than 50 feet 15 m because of wind, fire, and climate.

The plant growth around the hammock base is nearly impenetrable; beneath the canopy hammocks is an ideal habitat for animals. Reptiles such as various species of snake and anole and amphibians such as the American green tree frogHyla cinerealive in the hardwood hammocks. Birds such as barred owls Strix variawoodpeckersnorthern cardinals Cardinalis cardinalisand southern bald eagles Haliaeetus leucocephalus…

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Few trees can survive in the conditions of this region, but plants— succulents like saltwort and glasswort —tolerate salt, brackish water, and desert conditions. Marl prairies may go dry in some parts of the year; alligators play a vital role in maintaining life in remote parts of the Everglades by burrowing in the mud during the dry season, creating pools of water where fish and amphibians survive from one year to the next. Pelicans, shorebirds , terns, and black skimmers Rynchops niger are among the birds frequenting park shorelines. Three species of mangrove trees—red Rhizophora mangle , black Avicennia germinans , and white Laguncularia racemosa —can be found in the Everglades.