Pa-hay-Okee

Pa-hay-Okee Everglades National Park

Chris Vetrano

11/11/13

Plant Ecology

Pa-hay-Okee: Everglades National Park Location: Florida Established: December 6, 1947 Size: 1,542,526 acres The original name of the Everglades was Pa-hay-Okee. “The Native Americans who lived here named it Pa-hay-Okee which translates into "grassy waters." (NPS, nd) The Everglades unique environment consists of several ecosystem types, they include shallow-water marine habitats, saltwater wetland forests and marshes, freshwater marshes and prairies, and upland complexes of pine and hardwood forests. (NPS, nd) “Everglades National Park encompasses about 1.5 million acres of which 1.3 million acres are designated as the only subtropical wilderness in the continental United States.” (NPS, nd) Unfortunately Everglades National Park only encompasses the southern one-fifth of the “historic” Everglades ecosystem.

(NPS, nd) “Everglades National Park holds the largest continuous stand of sawgrass prairie in North America. Deer, apple snails, muskrats, and alligators are just some of the species wildlife that utilize this habitat for survival.” (NPS, nd)

(NPS, 2010) The climate is a combination of rainy season and dry season. “Annual precipitation ranges from 50 to 64 in (1,270 to 1,620 mm). About one-third of this total occurs during the fall and winter dry season. Mean annual temperature is from 72 to 77 oF (22 to 25 oC). The frost-free growing season lasts for 330 to 365 days. Key West, an island about 100 miles south of the mainland, has no record of freezing temperature.” (US Forest Service, nd) The diversity of trees within the Everglades is impressive. “It is the first national park dedicated for its biologic diversity as opposed to its scenic vistas.” (NPS, nd) 

Soldierwood (Colubrina elliptica)

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Anchineel (Hippomane mancinella)

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Black mangrove (Avicennia germinans)

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Strangler Fig (Ficus aurea)

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Cockspur (Pisonia aculeata)

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Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum)

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Slash Pine (Pinus elliottii)

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Red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle)

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Blolly (Guapira discolor)

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Everglades velvetseed (Guettarda elliptica)

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Willow bustic (Sideroxylon salicifolium)

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Sabal Palm (Sabal palmetto)

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West Indies mahogany (Swietenia mahogani)

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Mastic (Sideroxylon foetidissimum)

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Buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus)

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Black Ironwood (Krugiodendron ferreum)

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Live oak (Quercus virginiana)

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Jamaica Dogwood (Piscidia piscipula)

Pa-hay-Okee: Everglades National Park

(NPS, nd) “Everglades National Park is considered one of the most severely infested parks in terms of exotic plants. Some of the many introduced plant species, notably Schinus (Brazilian pepper), are considered to be the most serious long-term threat to the Everglades� ecosystem. (NPS, nd)

Pa-hay-Okee: Everglades National Park References Del Tredici, P. (2006, February). BRAVE NEW ECOLOGY On the road to more sustainable urban landscapes, the natives-versus-exotics controversy, says one plant scientist, is a dead end. Retrieved November 12, 2013, from http://ww2.sccsc.edu/hort/Peter_Del_Tredici_Native_vs_Exotic[1].pdf Institute for Systematic Botany (n.d.). Chamaesyce garberi - Species Page - ISB: Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants. Retrieved November 12, 2013, from http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/Plant.aspx?id=1233 South Florida Aquatic Environments (n.d.). FLMNH EVERGLADES: THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES. Retrieved November 12, 2013, from http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/southflorida/everglades/endangeredglades.html U.S. National Park Service (n.d.). Exotic Vegetation Management Program - Everglades National Park (U.S. National Park Service). Retrieved November 11, 2013, from http://www.nps.gov/ever/naturescience/exoticvegprogram.htm U.S. National Park Service (n.d.). Invasive Plant Program - Everglades National Park (U.S. National Park Service). Retrieved November 12, 2013, from http://www.nps.gov/ever/naturescience/invasiveplantprogram.htm U.S. National Park Service (n.d.). Nature & Science - Everglades National Park (U.S. National Park Service). Retrieved November 12, 2013, from http://www.nps.gov/ever/naturescience/index.htm U.S. National Park Service (n.d.). Superintendent Annual Park Report - Everglades National Park (U.S. National Park Service). Retrieved November 12, 2013, from http://www.nps.gov/ever/parkmgmt/superintendent-annual-park-report.htm

Pa-hay-Okee: Everglades National Park U.S. National Park Service (n.d.). Invasive Plant Program - Everglades National Park (U.S. National Park Service). Retrieved November 12, 2013, from http://www.nps.gov/ever/naturescience/invasiveplantprogram.htm U.S. National Park Service (2010). Everglades & Dry Tortugas National Parks 2010.

Retrieved November 12, 2013, from http://www.nps.gov/ever/parkmgmt/upload/EVERand-DRTO_SAR_2010.pdf US Forest Service (n.d.). Chapter 50-Ecological Subregions of the United States.

Retrieved November 12, 2013, from http://www.fs.fed.us/land/pubs/ecoregions/ch50.html