November 13, 1997

Everglades

-described as a river of grass: "grass" is actually sawgrass which is a sedge, Cladium jaimaicensis
-830 total plant species

Actual Everglades occupies an area of 10,000 km2 (1 million hectares). The grade going south on the peninsula is 3cm/km. The soil is peat over limestone. The peat is made up of decomposing sawgrass and was piled 20 feet high over the Everglades. This accumulating of peat began 5,000 years ago.

Modern History
1881-Governor Bloxhaun 1st to decide that the Everglades needed to be cleared
              -sold $4 million of land along Kissimmee River to Hamilton Viston
              -Hamilton cleared 50,000 to farm but a huge storm came and flooded his plans

1905-Governor Napoleon Bon Broward won the election on his campaign of "Drain the Everglades"
              -started after the 1903 floods in the Florida Bay (the same ones that destroyed Viston's plans)
              -developed the cut-n-try method: drained water from the Kissimmee River through the Atlantic Coastal Ridge.

1926-1928-More floods came, but now people were living there so 2,500 people drowned
                           -Army Corp of Engineers called in to do it right: lowered lake level, built a 10 ft. levee all the way around it,                              kept canals open
                           -started an agricultural boom with 500,000 acres farmed (300,000 are sugarcane)

1934-Sugar Act: protects the price of sugar and protects the expansion of sugar

1947-Floods again. Made a big mess, Army Corp Engineers came up with 20 year master plan: took charge to protect against          flooding
                    -divided area into EAA (Everglades Agricultural Area), WCA (Water Conservation Area - pump water into them                      when floods came, able to hold the extra water. Built with huge dikes around them with collector canals draining                      out to sea), and then Everglades Park.

1970's-Environmental diasters questioned during this time, meanwhile 5 million people have moved into this area (recreational            value).

1981-Governor Graham ran on the campaign of  "Save our Everglades" and won. Put Restortation into the hands of the Army          Corp of Engineers

1983-El Nino Floods: overtook WCA, masive outlets through Everglades Park

Major concerns: Water conservation areas are not really conserving water ( 90% of the water went to the Atlantic, 10% went to the Everglades). Flows needed adjustment, phosphorus in WCA from decompsing soils in agri areas and phosphorus runoff from sugarcane farmers, vegetation changing in WCA's and in the Everglades Park (Typha repacing Cladium). Base of food chain, Periphyton (mat of algae and bacteria: pond scum), first disappeared or changed to blue-greeen algae. Why? Blue green algae uses nitrogen better(can fix nitrogen from the air). Soil being depleted from the EAA, causing doubt for the agri future. The WCA's are no longer good wetlands, don't even support wading birda anymore. The canal banks invaded by Australian tree Melaluca and colonizing flats. In the dry season, there are intense fires. Florida Bay has seagrasses and corals but it is becoming hypersaline (50-80 ppt) because it is a shallow evaportaion basin, not receiving freshwater anymore. There has been large scale dieoffs of mangroves. 1980's dieoffs of seagrasses, which decreases food and habitat for endangered species: manatees, birds, crocodiles.