text stringlengths 0 6.44k |
|---|
Pittosporum pentandrum Philippine pittosporum, |
Taiwanese cheesewood |
II S |
Phyllostachys aurea golden bamboo II N, C |
Pteris vittata Chinese brake fern II N, C, S |
Ptychosperma elegans solitary palm II S |
Ricinus communis castor bean II N, C, S |
Sansevieria hyacinthoides bowstring hemp II C, S |
Scleria lacustris Wright’s nutrush II C, S |
Sesbania punicea purple sesban, rattlebox II N, C, S |
Solanum diphyllum Two-leaf nightshade II N, C, S |
Solanum jamaicense Jamiaca nightshade II C |
Solanum torvum susumber, turkey berry II N, U N, C, S |
Sphagneticola trilobata (= Wedelia trilobata) wedelia II N, C, S |
Stachytarpheta urticifolia (= S. cayennensis) nettle-leaf porterweed II S |
Syagrus romanzoffiana (= Arecastrum |
romanzoffianum) |
queen palm II C, S |
Syzygium jambos rose-apple II C, S |
Terminalia catappa tropical almond II C, S |
Terminalia muelleri Australian almond II C, S |
Tribulus cistoides puncture vine, burr-nut II N, C, S |
Urena lobata Caesar's weed II N, C, S |
Vitex trifolia simple-leaf chaste tree II C, S |
Washingtonia robusta Washington fan palm II C, S |
Wedelia (see Sphagneticola above) |
Wisteria sinensis Chinese wisteria II N, C |
Xanthosoma Sagittifolium malanga, elephant ear II N, C, S |
The Everglades is a natural region of flooded grasslands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee. Water l... |
Human habitation in the southern portion of the Florida peninsula dates to 15,000 years ago. Before European colonization, the region was dominated by the native Calusa and Tequesta tribes. With Spanish colonization, both tribes declined gradually during the following two centuries. The Seminole, formed from mostly Cre... |
Migrants to the region who wanted to develop plantations first proposed draining the Everglades in 1848, but no work of this type was attempted until 1882. Canals were constructed throughout the first half of the 20th century, and spurred the South Florida economy, prompting land development. In 1947, Congress formed t... |
Following this period of rapid development and environmental degradation, the ecosystem began to receive notable attention from conservation groups in the 1970s. Internationally, UNESCO and the Ramsar Convention designated the Everglades a Wetland Area of Global Importance. The construction of a large airport 6 miles (... |
Names |
This map made by the U.S. military shows the term "Everglades" was in use by 1857. |
The first written record of the Everglades was on Spanish maps made by cartographers who had not seen the land. They named the unknown area between the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of Florida Laguna del Espíritu Santo ("Lake of the Holy Spirit").[3] The area was featured on maps for decades without having been explored. Wr... |
British surveyor John Gerard de Brahm, who mapped the coast of Florida in 1773, called the area "River Glades". The name "Everglades" first appeared on a map in 1823, although it was also spelled as "Ever Glades" as late as 1851.[5] The Seminole call it Pahokee, meaning "Grassy Water".[6] The region was labeled "Pa-hai... |
A 2007 survey by geographers Ary J. Lamme and Raymond K. Oldakowski found that the "Glades" has emerged as a distinct vernacular region of Florida. It comprises the interior areas and southernmost Gulf Coast of South Florida, largely corresponding to the Everglades itself. It is one of the most sparsely populated areas... |
Geology |
The geology of South Florida, together with a warm, wet, subtropical/tropical climate, provides conditions well-suited for a large marshland ecosystem. Layers of porous and permeable limestone create water-bearing rock and soil that affect the climate, weather, and hydrology of South Florida.[8] The properties of the r... |
Limestone and aquifers |
Fluctuating sea levels compressed numerous layers of calcium carbonate, sand, and shells. The resulting permeable limestone formations that developed between 25 million and 70 million years ago created the Floridan Aquifer, which serves as the main source of fresh water for the northern portion of Florida. However, thi... |
A satellite image of the Everglades, taken in March 2019 |
Limestone formations in South Florida. Source: U.S. Geological Survey |
Five geologic formations form the surface of the southern portion of Florida: the Tamiami Formation, Caloosahatchee Formation, Anastasia Formation, Miami Limestone, and the Fort Thompson Formation. The Tamiami Formation is a compression of highly permeable light-colored fossiliferous sands and pockets of quartz, 150 fe... |
Surrounding the southern part of Lake Okeechobee is the Fort Thompson Formation, made of dense, hard limestone, shells, and sand. Rain water is less likely to erode the limestone to form solution holes—smaller versions of sinkholes that do not intersect with the water table. In this formation the beds are generally imp... |
The geologic formations that have the most influence on the Everglades are the Miami Limestone and the Fort Thompson Formation. The Miami Limestone has two facies. The Miami Oolite facies, which underlies the Atlantic Coastal Ridge from southern Palm Beach County to southern Miami-Dade County, is made up of ooids: tiny... |
The metropolitan areas of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach are located on a rise in elevation along the eastern coast of Florida, called the Eastern Coastal Ridge, that was formed as waves compressed ooids into a single formation. Along the western border of the Big Cypress Swamp is the Immokolee Ridge (or I... |
With the rise of sea levels that occurred during the Pleistocene approximately 17,000 years ago, the runoff of water from Lake Okeechobee slowed and created the vast marshland that is now known as the Everglades. Slower runoff also created an accumulation of almost 18 feet (5.5 m) of peat in the area. The presence of s... |
Hydrology |
Predevelopment flow direction of water from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay Source: U.S. Geological Survey |
The consistent Everglades flooding is fed by the extensive Kissimmee, Caloosahatchee, Miami, Myakka, and Peace Rivers in central Florida. The Kissimmee River is a broad floodplain that empties directly into Lake Okeechobee, which at 730 square miles (1,900 km2) with an average depth of 9 feet (2.7 m), is a vast but sha... |
The area from Orlando to the tip of the Florida peninsula was at one point a single drainage unit. When rainfall exceeded the capacity of Lake Okeechobee and the Kissimmee River floodplain, it spilled over and flowed in a southwestern direction to empty into Florida Bay. Prior to urban and agricultural development in F... |
Climate |
Hurricane Charley in 2004 moving ashore on South Florida's Gulf of Mexico coast |
The climate of South Florida is located across the broad transition zone between subtropical and tropical climates (Koppen Aw, Am and Cfa). Like most regions with this climate type, there are two basic seasons – a "dry season" (winter) which runs from November through April, and a "wet season" (summer) which runs from ... |
The annual range of temperatures in south Florida and the Everglades is rather small (less than 20 °F [11 °C]) – ranging from a monthly mean temperature of around 65 °F (18 °C) in January to 83 °F (28 °C) in July. High temperatures in the hot and wet season (summer) typically exceed 90 °F (32 °C) across inland south Fl... |
Unlike any other wetland system on earth, the Everglades are sustained primarily by the atmosphere.[28] Evapotranspiration – the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration from the Earth's land surface to atmosphere – associated with thunderstorms, is the key mechanism by which water leaves the region. During a year un... |
Precipitation during the wet season is primarily caused by air mass thunderstorms and the easterly flow out of the subtropical high (Bermuda High). Intense daytime heating of the ground causes the warm moist tropical air to rise, creating the afternoon thundershowers typical of tropical climates. 2:00 pm is the mean ti... |
Climate data for 36 mi WNW Miami, Miami-Dade County, Florida (1981 – 2010 averages). |
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year |
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) 76.7 |
(24.8) 78.9 |
(26.1) 81.1 |
(27.3) 84.9 |
(29.4) 88.6 |
(31.4) 90.8 |
(32.7) 91.9 |
(33.3) 92.0 |
(33.3) 90.4 |
(32.4) 87.1 |
(30.6) 82.1 |
(27.8) 78.4 |
(25.8) 85.3 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.