Florida Everglades Protected Areas

Habitats of endangered wildlife in relation to the protected areas of the remaining Florida everglades.

Sophie Thompson

About the Everglades

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  • The Everglades is an area of tropical wetlands located on the southern area of Florida. It is home to 39 native Florida species federally listed as threatened or endangered, including:
  • Florida Panther
  • Sea Turtles (such as the loggerhead, green turtle, leatherback, Kemp's Ridley, and hawksbill)
  • West Indian Manatee
  • Many wading birds, such as the wood stork, great egret, and reddish egret

Seven of these 37 species are already believed to be extirpated (no longer found) from the park. (National Park Service)

"Large portions of the northern and eastern Everglades have been drained and converted to agricultural or urban land uses. Only 50% of the original Everglades ecosystem remains today. The remainder is the largest and most important freshwater sub-tropical peatland in North America." (Everglades Program Chapter 40E-63.011)

(Image courtesy of National Park Service)

An image of mangrove roots within the Florida everglades. (National Parks Service)

Everglades Protected Areas:

National Parks, State Parks, Nature Preserves and Wildlife Refuges

Everglades Protection Area

The selected area of this map displays the boundaries for the Everglades Protection Area referenced in the Everglades Program Chapter 40E-63, Florida Administrative Code. (South Florida Water Management Open Data, Florida Administrative Code)

Florida Everglades Subbasin

This map displays the Florida Everglades Subbasin according to the USGS/Esri  National Hydrography Dataset . This is an area of land where water is collected and drains to a larger stream or wetland, such as the everglades. (National Geographic)

Between these two maps, it is apparent that while the majority of the Protection Area occurs within the subbasin, the subbasin itself is not entirely protected.

Due to this, outside pollutants may be brought into the parks, preserves, and protected areas through the watershed.

Additionally, aquatic endangered species may follow the patterns of the watersheds rather than the protection area itself.

Florida Panther (Puma Concolor Coryi)

According to the National Wildlife Federation, the Florida panther is an endangered species. There currently estimated to be only 120-130 panthers left in the wild. (Photo credit Rodney Cammauf, NPS)

Panther Telemetry

Many sitings of these wild panthers within the past ten years are located outside of protected areas, preserves, or national parks. (Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, Wildlife Research Institute)

Panthers require large areas of dense vegetation to meet their needs. This habitat makes prey vulnerable to stalking and capturing, and is also used for their denning and resting areas.

"Telemetry monitoring and ground tracking indicate that panthers select forested habitats, marsh shrub swamps, and prairie grasslands with agricultural lands and other habitat types used in proportion to their availability." (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) (Photo credit Rodney Cammauf, NPS)

Protection

The blue symbols represent panther sightings within protected areas, while the red sightings are located outside of parks, nature preserves, and wildlife refuges. While protected areas hold a large amount of sightings, there are still many sightings outside of these areas.

Sea Turtles

This image shows one of the five sea turtle species native to the Florida Everglades. They are all classified as either threatened or endangered under the  Endangered Species Act of 1973 . (National Park Service) (Photo credit NPS)

Turtle Nesting

The green lines on the map represent beaches along the Florida coast in which sea turtles nest.

Sea turtles are infamously threatened for being extremely impacted by human pollution, let alone habitat destruction. (Photo credit NPS)

Green areas represent protected turtle nesting areas, while red areas are not within a nature preserve, park, or wildlife refuge.