Everglades Ecosystem

The Everglades is fed by sheetflow that historically ran from the Kissimmee River into Lake Okeechobee and south to Florida Bay, across almost 11,000 square miles of South Florida, and SFWMD says drainage has cut it to half that size (SFWMD Everglades).

The fall is tiny. Before development, summer rain overflowed the south shore of Lake Okeechobee and the water traveled about 100 miles while dropping only about 12 to 14 feet in elevation (NPS Everglades Geology). NPS gives the highest point in Everglades National Park as just 8 feet above sea level (NPS Wildlife).

SFWMD describes the River of Grass as a mosaic of sawgrass marshes, freshwater ponds, prairies and forested uplands (SFWMD). Florida Bay stays tied to the marsh in both directions, through fresh water flowing into the bay and salt water seeping into the Everglades.

NPS says the South Florida population has grown since the late 1800s and that canals, ditches, dams and levees were built to drain swamps for agriculture, oil and gas exploration and urban development, and raised roadbeds built from canal spoil dammed the sheetflow from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay (NPS Geology). SFWMD adds that the canals, levees and the Water Conservation Areas have caused over-drainage in some places and excessive flooding in others (SFWMD).

NPS identifies nine distinct habitats in the Everglades, where even a few inches of elevation influence which ecosystem develops and salt plays a role along the coast (NPS Habitats and Plant Communities, NPS Nature), though its list names eight.

The NPS page names eight habitats in its list while its text says nine have been identified, and it does not name a ninth. The agency stresses that the landscape is dynamic, shifting with fire, invasive species, water, storms and climate change (NPS Habitats).

The Everglades is not only fresh water. More than one third of Everglades National Park is marine and estuarine, and the mangrove fringe is the largest continuous mangrove ecosystem in the western hemisphere (NPS). On the higher ground of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge, pine forests give way to hardwood hammocks where fire has been kept out, dwarf pond cypress grow in wetter areas near the end of the ridge, and sawgrass prairies extend south of it (NPS Geology).

NPS counts 36 native Florida species that may occur in Everglades National Park as federally threatened or endangered, including the Florida panther, American crocodile, wood stork and snail kite (NPS Threatened and Endangered Species).

By group, the 36 are 8 plants, 7 invertebrates, 2 fish, 8 reptiles, 10 birds and 4 mammals, and NPS considers 7 of them extirpated from the park (NPS). Two, the Cape Sable seaside sparrow and the Florida leafwing butterfly, occur only within Everglades National Park and the immediately adjacent lands. About 180 plant and animal species in the park are also listed by the State of Florida.

The NPS page gives two totals. Its summary counts 36 listed species, while its critical habitat paragraph refers to 10 of the 39 species that occur in Everglades National Park, and the page does not explain the difference (NPS). The species table also marks the American alligator and some butterflies as included because they look like listed species.

NPS lists over 350 bird species and 40 mammal species in the park (NPS Wildlife). SFWMD says the mix of salt and fresh water makes the Everglades the only place on Earth where alligators and crocodiles live side by side (SFWMD).

SFWMD lists today's remaining Everglades as five Water Conservation Areas, two state Wildlife Management Areas and Everglades National Park with Florida Bay (SFWMD Everglades).

SFWMD says Everglades National Park and the Water Conservation Areas were designated Outstanding Florida Waters in 1978, and that canals, levees, roads and other facilities have cut connections between the central Everglades and adjacent transitional wetlands (SFWMD).

NPS says Everglades National Park was authorized in 1934 but not established until 1947, one month after Marjory Stoneman Douglas published The Everglades: River of Grass (NPS Hydrologic Activity). The park covers 1.5 million acres across Monroe, Miami-Dade and Collier counties (NPS FAQ), and UNESCO designated it a World Heritage Site in 1979 (NPS Geology).

NPS says Congress authorized the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan in 2000, at a cost of more than $10.5 billion on a 35-plus year timeline, and park hydrologists track freshwater, brackish and salt water through a network of monitoring stations (NPS).

NPS says invasive species pose a serious threat to South Florida's native ecosystems, with invasive fish preying on native species and plants such as melaleuca outcompeting native vegetation (NPS Invasive Species).

The park names four groups it manages: invasive plants, Burmese pythons, lionfish in marine waters and invasive insects (NPS). Its advice for visitors: never release pets, aquarium species or plants, clean boats, trailers and gear before entering and leaving the park, and report sightings.

SFWMD runs a paid python removal program. It says Burmese pythons were first sighted in the Everglades in the 1970s and came through the pet trade, and that they rob panthers, raptors, bobcats and other native predators of their main food (SFWMD Python Elimination Program). Removal agents work designated lands in Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward, Collier, Hendry, Lee and Palm Beach counties.

The pay is set out on the SFWMD page: an hourly survey rate of $14, $20 or $30 depending on location, plus $50 for the first four feet of each python and $25 for every foot after that, and $200 for each verified active nest (SFWMD). SFWMD and FWC post a combined running total of pythons eliminated as of December 2025, shown as a chart rather than a number in the page text.

Everglades National Park has three entrances that do not connect inside the park: the main entrance on State Road 9336 in Homestead, Shark Valley on U.S. 41 Tamiami Trail in Miami, and the water-based Gulf Coast entrance in Everglades City (NPS Everglades FAQ).

The Homestead entrance leads to the Royal Palm and Flamingo areas and is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year; the Shark Valley gate is open 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily (NPS FAQ). The standard entrance fee is $30.00 per vehicle, good for 7 days. The park has no lodging. Flamingo campground, 38 miles south of the Homestead entrance, has 234 drive-up sites and 41 electric hookup sites, with reservations from November 20 to April 15; Long Pine Key has 108 first-come, first-served sites.

Backcountry trips need a permit year-round. A Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness permit costs $21 plus $2 per person per night, issued at the Flamingo Visitor Center or reserved through Recreation.gov (NPS FAQ). Pets may be walked on a 6-foot leash in parking lots and campgrounds, but not on trails or in wilderness areas, and feeding or harassing wildlife is illegal (NPS Wildlife). The park's main phone is 305-242-7700 (NPS).

Last verified: October 18, 2026, against Everglades National Park's habitat, species, water, geology, invasive species and visitor FAQ pages and the South Florida Water Management District's Everglades and python program pages.