Fresh Water Marshes
Fresh Water Marshes Introduction
Feshwater marshes are often found in open areas near rivers and lakes. They are very common at the mouths of rivers and form in areas with mineral soil that drains very slowly. The water in freshwater marshes is usually one to six feet deep and is rich in minerals. Water flows into marshes from rain or from a water source like creeks, streams, or rivers.
In the United States, the biggest freshwater marsh in the United States is the Florida Everglades (in southwestern Florida).
The Florida Everglades is the single largest marsh system in the United States, occupying almost 10,000 square kilometers. Much of the land has been lost to development, but 4,200 square kilometers have been preserved, much of it as sawgrass marshes. The Everglades are threatened by altered water cycles caused by human development, drainage for development and polluted agricultural runoff.
Marshes
Birds
Everglades
Boitic
Biotic
American Crocodile
American Alligator
White Tail Deer
Bald Eagle
Great Blue Heron
Cotton Mouse
Racoons
Wild Hog
Green Tree frog
Food Web
Florida Golden Aster
HighlandScrub Hypericum
Floating Bladderwort
Butterfly Orchids
Consumers
Key Deer
Eastern Mud Turtle
Salt Water Tomminow
Secondary Consumers
West Indian Mantaee
Atlantic Salt Marsh Snake
Sothern Tesslated Darter
Apex
Florida Black Bear
Florida Panther
American Crcodile
American Alligator
Decomposer
Mushroom
Scavenger
Racoon
Human Impact On Fresh Water Marshes
Human Impacts:
Positive:humans protect the animals that live in the everglades and make sure they stay alive.
The everglades also help the economy because it is a huge tourist attraction and makes lots of money.
Negative:
Over the past hundred years, the Everglades has been suffering from pollution, water loss, loss of habitat, and loss of wildlife. All of these are mostly caused by the federal government.
The Everglades are a natural region of wetlands running from Lake Okeechobee into the Gulf of Mexico. It is sometimes called the "River of Grass." It is very shallow and is about 50 miles wide. It is home to more than 350 species of birds, 40 species of mammals, and 15 endangered animals. All these habitats depend on the water cycle. Since the 1940s, developers have been draining the Everglades. Now at least 1.7 million acres have been drained which is almost half of the Everglades.
There has been many negative effects on the wildlife since the draining. The number of wading birds have been reduced by 90%.The manatee, the Cape Sable seaside sparrow, the Miami black-headed snake, the wood stork, and the Florida panther are all at risk of extinction.
Endangered Indian West Manatee Classification
Description: West Indian manatees are large, gray aquatic mammals with bodies that taper to a flat, paddle-shaped tail. They have two forelimbs, called flippers, with three to four nails on each flipper. Their head and face are wrinkled with whiskers on the snout. The manatee's closest relatives are the elephant and the hyrax (a small, gopher-sized mammal). Manatees are believed to have evolved from a wading, plant-eating animal. The West Indian manatee is related to the West African manatee, the Amazonian manatee, the dugong, and Steller's sea cow, which was hunted to extinction in 1768. The average adult manatee is about 10 feet long and weighs between 800 and 1,200 pounds.
Apex Predator Classification
Apex Predator: Florida Panther:\
Kingdom - Animalia
Phylum - Chordata
Subphylum - Vertebrata
Class - Mammalia
Order - Carnivora
Family - Felidae
Subfamily - Felinae
Genus - Puma
Species - concolor
Subspecies - coryi