1. South Florida Everglades Historically: Free-flowing ‘river of grass’ extending from the Kissimmee chain of lakes to Florida Bay. Since late 1800s: Construction of 3,000 km of canals and levees inter- rupting the Everglades' natural sheetflow, eliminating more than 50% of the wetlands and deterioration of water quality. SeaWiFS: April 1999

2. Upper chain of lakesKissimmee River Lake Okeechobee Water Conservation Areas

3. Mangrove island, Florida Bay Tree islands Coral reef, Florida Keys

4. Tall-grass wet prairies Cypress swamps Alligator holes Florida BayMangroves

5. Annual precipitation (smoothing average), horizontal line = historic average. Richardson 2010 Plant communities highly influenced by rainfall patterns combined with impact of drainage, dikes, and an occasional hurricane. Timing, frequency and amplitude of low and high water events. Shifts in rainfall also control nutrient loadings.

6. Historic map of the plant communities in the Everglades based on the map of J.H. Davis (1943). The map has been redrawn and simplified from the original map, and the boundaries of the current water conservation areas (WCA-1, WCA-2, WCA-3), the Everglades National Park (ENP), and the Everglades Agricultural Areas have been added (form Richardson 2010)

7. Shallow elevation gradient and overlying peat  storage of water during wet periods and slow release during dry season. Richardson 2010

8. Everglades Restoration Plan Restoration of natural hydrological conditions Restoration of wetland habitat and biological populations Improved water quality Enhanced water supply for agriculture and urban use Continued flood protection Cost: $7.8 billion (now $11 billion) Duration: 30 years Richardson 2010

9. Population-level considerations Mangrove Manatee Limpkin Alligator

10. Ecosystem-level considerations Littoral zones of lakes Cypress swamps Sloughs Tree islands

11. Kissimmee River Restoration

12. Vegetable farmingMiami Naturally-occurring brush fires Port St. Lucie

13. Succession patterns related to fire and hydroperiod in the Everglades. Modified from Richardson 2000 The current Everglades ecosystem is not simply rainfall driven. It depends on the restoration of peatland hydrology and nutrient conditions.

14. It takes little ecological knowledge to preserve or totally restore natural conditions, ……….. but it takes enormous ecological knowledge to actively manage an area in order to restore or preserve some natural values while manipulating the ecosystem for other desirable ends