The water levels are also a huge factor for whether plant life or animal life will thrive. If there are too many floods, and not enough dry time for animals to burrow then the species will soon not be able to reproduce fast enough. We talked in lecture about the Cape Sable seaside sparrow and how it was a perfect example of how restoring the Everglades and helping the birds is extremely difficult. These sparrows build their nests low to the ground, and recent flooding has gotten to the height of the nests, thus destroying them. These birds are an endangered species because they cannot reproduce fast enough due to the water level and fires that have been destroying their nests.
Besides from the Cape Sable seaside sparrow, there is a huge amount of animal species that are becoming endangered, threatened, or even becoming a candidate of the two. There is an inventory of endangered, threatened, or candidate species that is taken by the National Park Service. There are twenty species listed as endangered that include turtles, bats, and butterflies. There are ten species listed as threatened that include turtles, crocodiles, and snails. There are six candidate species that are under review to see if they are becoming threatened or endangered. And at last, there are two species that are listed as proposed threatened, meaning that they were accepted as a candidate but are under a proposal to be added to the list of threatened.
These animals do not have a lot in common, besides the fact that they live in the Everglades. If we look at the endangered species list as a whole, there are turtles, bats, birds, panthers, mice, fish, butterflies, and even a species of manatee that are listed. These animals live in different environments throughout the Everglades, but are mostly listed as endangered because of the fire and water problems and outbreaks that has been happening.
The West Indian Manatee, for example, is a species that seems like it does not really belong on this list. This specific manatee is called the Florida manatee because there are other West Indian manatees that live in other regions of the world. These manatees eat aquatic plants in the Everglades. They spend up to eight hours a day grazing, and enjoy swimming in the shallower waters. These manatees have no breeding season, and can mate at any time of the year. Females reach their maturity between three to ten years of age, and have around one to two calves every two to five years. The strangest part about the manatee, however, is not its slow breeding cycle, but its natural predator list. There is no list! How could these manatees be endangered only in this area if there are no natural predators to kill them?
If all the other species in this region are endangered and threatened because of the floods and fires that have been happening in the Everglades, shouldn't the manatee be the only animal that isn't endangered? Why do you think the manatee is endangered?
It's amazing that the manatees have no known predators and are still an endangered species. I believe that part of this reason is indeed the slow breeding cycle you mentioned. The slower the rate, the less offspring produced in its lifetime. I also think that a huge contributor may be humans. Even though not many people are out on boats here, there was construction going on here. The noise from the machines can be too loud for the manatees and blow out their eardrums, making them deaf. If they are deaf, they have a harder time finding other manatees. Boats may also be a problem, because the motors commonly scratch up a manatee, causing severe harm or even death.
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