Preserving the Everglades National Park from the Effects of Human Intrusion

The Everglades National Park is the largest sub-tropical wilderness in the United States (Brennan & Dodd, 2009) and the largest tract of wilderness east of the Rocky Mountains (Bransford, n.d.). Once covering 11,000 square miles, intrusions from man reduced the once robust ecosystem of the Everglades to roughly 2,400 square miles in less than a century. The park was established in 1947 in response to the severe degradation of the land. Since the parks inception, preservation of the area has grown from local to national efforts. Most recently, The World Heritage Committee, under the behest of the United States, made the preservation of the Everglades National Park an international concern by inscribing the area on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2010 (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2011). Identifying the mistakes of the past, man endeavors to save the Everglades from himself.

The sub-tropical habitat of the Everglades National Park is comprised of both land and water, thus it supports many species of aquatic and land organisms. One of the more prominent features of the landscape is the Sawgrass marshes. So prominent in fact that author Marjory Stoneman Douglas described the Everglades as a slow moving “river of grass”, using the term as the subtitle to her 1947 book, The Everglades: River of Grass (United States Department of Justice, n.d.). The Sawgrass is found in the Marl Prairie, where algae growth provides a food source for marsh organisms. Wading birds, crayfish, and amphibians rely on the resources of the Sawgrass habitat of the Marl Prairie (Andrews University, 2004).

The lowland vegetation of the Mangrove Swamp, Cypress Dome and the Coastal Prairie provide food and shelter for several organisms. Detritus shed by vegetation serves as food for bacteria, molds, crustaceans, and fish, in turn providing resource for several species of birds, reptiles, and amphibians (Andrews University, 2004), and the salt-tolerant...