The Everglades are a fragile wetlands ecosystem. It has been around for many years, providing shelter for wildlife. The Everglades used to be filled with rare, exotic wildlife. It has been drained by settlers for many years, and provides us with a source of water. Restoration acts are hard to carry through with. To begin with, the Everglades are a source of water for many people. Over seven million people in Florida use the Everglades as a water source. In the text,”Can We Fix the Water Supply”, it states,” The Everglades… has fallen victim to three extended droughts over the last ten years,” This means in a time span of ten years, three long droughts have occurred. When a fragile ecosystem undergoes a small change, such as a short-term
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When settlers from outside Florida came to the Everglades, they thought of it as a fruitless swampland. They had an idea of draining the Everglades. From 1905 to 1910 they began to convert the land for their agricultural purposes. The settlers laid rail for a railroad system, and more settlers started to come to the wetlands. Settlers dug canals, created water facilities, and regulated the flow of water. The Everglades were nearly drained entirely. According to the text,”Past and Present: The Florida Everglades”, it states,” As a result, the quantity and diversity of the wetlands’ wildlife decreased…” This means because of the increase in construction and population in the Everglades, upset its fragile ecosystem, and cut the flow of fresh water to the wetlands, the difference in wildlife decreased. Only 50 of the original wetlands still exist today. Once the settlers had drained the Everglades, they used the area to grow sugar cane there. The Everglades are host to 440,000 acres of sugar cane. As sugar cane demands go up, more land is needed to plant, which leaves less land available to support life. After sugar cane is harvested, fertilizer introduces chemicals and excess amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus into the fragile ecosystem. The chemicals contaminate the limited water supply found in the Everglades. Settlers came here and almost drained the Everglades completely and even today people
When settlers from outside Florida came to the Everglades, they thought of it as a fruitless swampland. They had an idea of draining the Everglades. From 1905 to 1910 they began to convert the land for their agricultural purposes. The settlers laid rail for a railroad system, and more settlers started to come to the wetlands. Settlers dug canals, created water facilities, and regulated the flow of water. The Everglades were nearly drained entirely. According to the text,”Past and Present: The Florida Everglades”, it states,” As a result, the quantity and diversity of the wetlands’ wildlife decreased…” This means because of the increase in construction and population in the Everglades, upset its fragile ecosystem, and cut the flow of fresh water to the wetlands, the difference in wildlife decreased. Only 50 of the original wetlands still exist today. Once the settlers had drained the Everglades, they used the area to grow sugar cane there. The Everglades are host to 440,000 acres of sugar cane. As sugar cane demands go up, more land is needed to plant, which leaves less land available to support life. After sugar cane is harvested, fertilizer introduces chemicals and excess amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus into the fragile ecosystem. The chemicals contaminate the limited water supply found in the Everglades. Settlers came here and almost drained the Everglades completely and even today people