Sawgrass
Marsh
The most extensive natural community in the
management area is sawgrass marsh. The dominant species sawgrass,
which reaches heights of 10 feet high or more, thrived in the
low-nutrient and fluctuating water conditions of the historic
Everglades. The black peat of the Everglades valued for
agriculture, especially sugar cane, formed over thousands of years
from decaying sawgrass and charcoal from frequent light ground
fires. Today water levels in the marsh are regulated by water
control structures as well as by rainfall and vary from an average
of 2 feet deep at the peak of the wet season in October to below
ground level at the end of the dry season in May. Sawgrass is
important to ground nesting birds such as the American and least
bitterns, which build elevated mound nests out of dead vegetation
and use the thick growth of sawgrass for cover.
Fires every 1 to 5 years are typical and result from lightning in
the late spring when the ground surface is dry, although sawgrass
will carry a fire over water. When the peat dries out in extreme
droughts, muck fires may consume the soil and lower the ground
surface converting the sawgrass marsh to a slough.
|
|
Tree
Islands
Tree islands comprise less than two percent of the
area but are an integral part of the Everglades ecosystem. These
islands vary in size from less than an acre to several hundred
acres. Eighty percent of Everglades plant diversity is found on
tree islands. They are also critical habitat for deer, Florida
panther, bobcat, raccoon, marsh rabbit, river otter, snakes,
migratory songbirds, small mammals, and butterflies, and nesting
sites for wading birds, alligators, turtles, and raptors. Dominant
species are maple, dahoon holly, wax myrtle, elderberry, and
willow.
Persons with Disabilities