Florida panthers, alligators and manatees: Why the Everglades’ fauna is so diverse
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The Everglades info series
See more from ‘The Everglades info series,’ a Miami Herald video series produced by visual journalist D.A. Varela.
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Florida panthers, alligators and manatees: Why the Everglades’ fauna is so diverse
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The Everglades is the only subtropical wilderness in the United States and its sprawling wetlands, swamps and rocky pineland forests are home to a dizzying array of plants and animals.
The fourth episode of “The Everglades info series,” a Miami Herald video series produced by visual journalist D.A. Varela, takes a look at the diverse species that crawl, swim and fly in its variety of wet and dry habitats that span much of South Florida. They include native species like rosette spoonbills and other wading birds but also invaders from tropical climates like the Burmese python.
Perhaps no place in Florida better illustrates the threat of climate change than South Florida’s wetlands, an area once covering 4,000 square miles and now less than half that size, reduced and fragmented by farms, homes, roads and canals. . Now, the continuing problems of sea rise, water pollution, salt-water intrusion and the erosion of peat soil that make up much of the marshland threaten to compound the historic damage from development.
Subsequent episodes of “The Everglades info series” will take a look at Big Cypress National Preserve and explore impacts of human activities in the wetlands, among other topics.
This video was produced with funding from Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald is responsible for all editorial content.
This story was originally published August 28, 2023 at 5:00 AM.