Construction on Tamiami Trail may cause minor delays. If you have a scheduled tour, please plan accordingly. Smoke impacts from park wildfires are possible along Main Park Road. Please use caution.
Paurotis Pond is closed for wading bird nesting season until Summer 2025
Paurotis Pond, including the boat launch, the pond, and the area beyond the parking area adjacent to the pond, is closed until further notice to limit human disturbance to nesting wading birds like Great Egrets. The parking lot remains open for viewing.
Pa-Hay-Okee Overlook Trail closed for replacement project until Fall 2025
The Pa-Hay-Okee boardwalk trail, tower and parking lot will be closed for a replacement project until the fall. This is to replace aging infrastructure. The road remains open as a turnaround.
Importance of Water Flow to Landscape Structure/Sediment Transport
Daniel Childers
East Everglades, Everglades National Park
Brian Call
Water flow in the Everglades is considered to be one of the physical drivers that form the characteristic sawgrass-dominated ridge and slough landscape. The small and delicate particulate sediment carried in the water, also known as floc, is believed to also have a distinctive role that is reflective of the oligotrophic ecosystem. This project found that floc is produced where sawgrass is growing in a low nutrient, slow flowing environment along with a mix of utricularia, eleocharis, and periphyton. This is in contrast to larger sediment particles produced where sawgrass is in nutrient-enriched water; these areas also tend to have a different sawgrass plant community. This project tested the theory that the presence of floc over more visible suspended sediment is an indicator of the presence of the complex interactions between water flow, water quality, and the structure and composition of the vegetative community that form the ridge and slough landscape. This project addressed the restoration goal to "get the water right" by highlighting one defining characteristic of the system, the sediment transport of floc, when the water is "just right."
FOR DOWNLOAD
Final Report
Documenting the Importance of Water Flow to Everglades Landscape Structure and Sediment Transport in Everglades National Park
