Over one-third of the park is covered with water
The landscape of the Everglades National Park spans over 1.5 million acres and over one third of that is covered with water. There are several lakes and waterways that make up this marshy wetland. Florida Bay covers about 1,100 square miles between the Florida Keys and the southern tip of Florida. It encompasses over 200 mangrove islands and is surrounded by dense mangrove forests.
The Florida Bay is economically significant as it supports a 22 million dollar stone crab fishery as well as a 59 million dollar shrimp fishery. Along these lakes, waterways and estuaries, you will see much of the park's wildlife like the alligators sunning themselves on the banks, the wading birds foraging for food and many more.
The unique ecology is the only one of its kind in the country
The Everglades National Park is the largest subtropical wetland ecosystem in Northern America, the largest mangrove ecosystem in the western hemisphere, and the largest wilderness in the Southeast. The largest stand of saw grass prairie in North America lies in the Everglades.
This unique subtropical ecosystem is made up of an amalgamation of many different habitats where many species of endangered and threatened birds and animals thrive, and miles of nature trails, as well as amazing photography opportunities abound. The park as about 8 types of natural features and unique ecosystems, namely the hardwood hammocks, the pine rock lands, mangroves, coastal lowlands, freshwater slough, marine & estuary, freshwater marl prairie and Cypress.
The Everglades' ecosystem is perfect for the survival of bird populations
The shallow, marshy wetlands of the Everglades are only about 6 inches deep in the deepest spot and are covered with the sharp, weedy saw grass. This makes it an ideal habitat for wading birds. In addition to that, the bird population in the Everglades is known to sustain itself on the fish, snakes, insects and turtles present in the marshes which in turn feed on the algae and bacteria in the wetland water. This unique cyclic ecosystem is perfectly conducive for the thriving of the bird population, thereby making it great for bird watching or birding, as it is also called.
The park rangers work tirelessly to ensure nothing disrupts nesting grounds
Many species of wildlife use the Everglades National Park as nesting grounds. The rangers at the park ensure nothing disrupts or interferes with this nesting process by temporarily closing down areas of the park that have fledgling birds or eggs.
Orignal From: Reasons Why the Everglades is a Habitat Conducive for Wildlife
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