Video
Everglades, Restoring Resilience
Descriptive Transcript
Description Narrator: National Park Service logo.
Large earth movers clear the landscape.
Speaker 1: You might be surprised to learn that this scene is taking place in Everglades National Park.
Description Narrator: Everglades, Restoring Resilience.
Scenes of wildlife: an alligator, birds, and snakes transition to heavy machinery clearing the land.
Speaker 1: Everglades National Park was established in 1947 to protect and preserve the biodiversity found in this amazing and unique ecosystem, and what is happening here in a part of the park called the hole-in-the-donut, is actually working towards that goal.
This area gets its name because it was used for agriculture and was farmed even after the park was established. When farming ended in 1975, there remained thousands of acres of disturbed soil in the heart of, and surrounded by, the native habitats of the Everglades.
Description Narrator: A satellite map of the Everglades. Circles identify the areas of disturbed soil. An illustration of a donut appears around the circles.
Speaker 1: In this disturbed environment, invasive species proliferated. Invasive species are plants or animals that are not native to an ecosystem but are introduced there by humans. People might release them into the new ecosystem on purpose or by accident. But once there, they thrive and end up causing problems for our native species and for us.
When people think of invasive species, they tend to picture large hair-raising animals like Burmese pythons. But invasive species unfortunately come in many shapes and sizes, and the one causing the most harm in the hole-in-the-donut: Brazilian pepper.
Description Narrator: Views of Brazilian pepper plants. A map of South America highlights the native areas of the Brazilian pepper.
Speaker 1: Brazilian pepper is from South America and was brought here as an ornamental plant because people found its bright red berries and brilliant green foliage beautiful. Brazilian pepper grew quickly in the disturbed soil of the hole-in-the-donut, growing tall and dense, forming an impenetrable tangle of branches, and a canopy so thick that other plants could not grow in its understory. It out competed native vegetation for resources and soon grew in a vast monoculture across the landscape.
Which brings us back here. Since 1997, the hole-in-the-donut has been the site of a large-scale restoration project.
Description Narrator: A lone tree stands in the barren land of the hole-in-the-donut.
Empty supply boxes next to rows of crops.
Speaker 1: Simply removing the plants wouldn't work because farmers needed to use techniques such as rock plowing and fertilization to grow crops in the area, the soil was so changed from its original state, the Brazilian pepper would grow right back.
The solution? Completely removing the substrate and scraping away the soil all the way down to the limestone bedrock.
Description Narrator: Views of cleared land with no vegetation.
Speaker 1: It's a lot of work, but it is working. Once conditions that allow the Brazilian pepper to outcompete the native plants are removed, native species return. Within the first year, grasses grow in the lower, and therefore wetter marl prairies, and at naturally higher and dryer points, given enough time, pine trees emerge. Wildlife, such as wading birds and deer, return to the area, foraging for food, and leaving seeds behind in their waste, helping to reestablish native vegetation.
Human-made alterations to the Everglades ecosystem have caused big changes with big consequences. But the hole-in-the-donut restoration shows us that if we let them be, the Everglades and the natural world itself are resilient.
Description Narrator: A bald eagle in a tree.
Thanks to the Everglades Education Team.
Music by: Chris Haugen, “Sunshine Samba.”
Special Thanks to: South Florida National Parks Trust & National Park Foundation.
Everglades Environmental Education Program logo.
Description
Explore the "Hole in the Donut" in Everglades National Park to learn about invasive species and restoration.
Duration
3 minutes, 30 seconds
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