Tales from the Road: The Florida Everglades

My recent hiatus from the blog is due to a trip to South Florida. Day one of the trip was all about the beautiful, subtropical landscape that is the Florida Everglades. The Everglades is one of the largest wetlands in the entire world. The "River of Grass" is characterized by a shallow sheet of water that flows over and through the system amid blades of sawgrass. This ecosystem is very rich, hosting many species of plants and animals, 14 of which are endangered and 9 threatened. I've included some useful links at the bottom of this post if you are interested in learning more about this ecosystem.

From an airboat zooming through the Glades

Some beautiful cypress trees and pop ash

Some larger trees found among the marshy, grassy areas of the Glades.

You can see that this area has been cleared due to water flow and the passage of airboats.

 The Everglades Digital Library via Florida International University. It includes resources relating to the South Florida environment including scientific and technical reports, natural history writings, educational materials, datasets, maps, photos, etc.
http://everglades.fiu.edu/

The Wetlands Page of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It gives some very useful information on wetlands in general and legislation concerning them.
http://water.epa.gov/type/wetlands/index.cfm

The homepage of the South Florida Water Management District. It has good info on water conservation and the restoration of the Everglades.
http://www.sfwmd.gov/portal/page/portal/sfwmdmain/home%20page

The website of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). It has videos and lots of information about the Everglades and the on-going restoration.
http://www.evergladesplan.org/index.aspx

Florida PantherNet via the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. A close look at this very endangered animal and its conservation.
http://www.floridapanthernet.org/