Existing comment:
Pure, Clean Water:
Look closely at the surface of the Glades. Floating on the water or encrusting the ground is a spongy mat called periphyton. It consists of algae species that grow only in low-nutrient water. During the winter dry season, periphyton may look gray and dead, but it is merely dormant, harboring microscopic life until summer rains arrive.
The entire Everglades food web has evolved in pure, low-nutrient water. Changes in water quality due to nutrient contamination (the introduction of phosphates and nitrates) now threaten the natural Glades, from the microscopic level to the replacement of periphyton and sawgrass with thick stands of cattails.
If nutrient contamination continues, how will the Everglades look to future generations? Will the Glades still be a natural "River of Grass," or a broad expanse of cattails, lower in diversity, and poorer in wildlife? The answer depends on efforts to protect water quality. |