Ecosystems and Factors
Abiotic Factors are nonliving factors like temperature and salinity that affects the organisms and functions of the ecosystem.
A clean air act was passed for all of the NPS areas. This is crucial for the Everglades, because when it rains bits of mercury and heavy metals are deposited or are in a form of dust. Mercury can be changed to methylmercury when in the presence of sulfate. Sulfate is very abundant in the Everglades National Park. Methylmercury is a danger to wildlife and humans and can harm organisms. Methylmercury can travel up the food chain and can lead top predators to have a high level of methylmercury in their bodies (ie. Florida Panther)
One of the habitats in the park is the Hardwood Hammock.
One of the different habitats in the Everglades National Park is the Hardwood Hammock. The Hardwood Hammock is one out of the two dry habitats in the Everglades. The trees are close together, and their leaves almost form a canopy. The leaves and branches keep the hammocks cool. Solution holes are scattered around the habitat. They are filled with water to add protection from forest fires. Alligators can make these holes their homes too.
A predator on top of the food chain besides the alligators and crocodiles is the Everglades panther.
The Florida Panthers only eat meat, because they are strictly carnivores. Their diet mostly consists of armadillo, feral hog, white-tail deer, and raccoons. They usually mark their home in upland forests (hardwood hammock and pinelands) Most of the panthers in the park are smaller, and there are fewer amounts since the Everglades is a wetland.
One of the most important components in a food chain is the producer. A producer in the Everglades is the periphyton.
Periphyton is a type of plant that are found in the Everglades. They form at the top of the water when algae all clump and form together. The plant relies on the sun; therefore, the plant is a producer in the Everglades. It also can be used as a 'habitat', because it provides food and water for organisms.
A biotic factor in the Everglades National Park is one of the highest predators the American Crocodile.
The American crocodile are rare around the Florida area unlike alligators. They eat anything that moves. Their diet as hatchlings consists of small fish, snails, crustaceans, and insects. The temperature and the food that is available to them are the causes or possible causes of their sizes. The crocodile depends on the living creature it eats to stay alive.