Saving the 'smiling' face of Florida

Those instinctive actions are not only essential for the gator's survival but provide habitat for numerous other species that share its water space. During the dry season in the Everglades, alligators use their tails, feet, and snouts to clear silt out of water-filled holes, creating in essence a small pond or marsh so they can submerge themselves.

The nutrient-rich soil that winds up on the banks in the making of gator holes grows a variety of native plants, and locals from turtles to fish to wading birds come to the gator hole to find nourishment. The holes retain water long after the resident alligator moves on.

"Alligators are called the natural engineers of the 'Glades," ranger Rick Cook says. "They respond to the annual drying of the marsh by creating and maintaining water holes as their places of refuge. These become their dry season homes and in turn also attract and sustain the other Everglades wildlife who depend on the water to survive the winter."

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Without the alligators' maintenance, these holes would dry up and fill with plants within a couple of years, experts say. And near the holes is where alligators choose to build nests that can hatch up to 30 to 40 baby gators each year and sometimes even local turtles, which may share the nest.

Remove the alligators from Florida's ecosystem, and the list of those who would suffer would include wading birds such as great blue herons, egrets, and wood storks; numerous species of fish and turtles; and even large mammals such as the eastern white-tailed deer.

More often of late the battle to save Florida's famous face focuses on protecting its habitat against development. And that success has been found by not only protecting gator habitat but the surrounding upland areas as well. The hard work of rangers and conservationists together with planting programs like AMERICAN FORESTS' Global ReLeaf efforts in Ocala National Forest and Withlacoochie State Forest will ensure that the "face" of Florida continues to be scaly and sharp-toothed.

SHARP-TOOTHED AND SCALY, FLORIDA'S BIGGEST TOURIST ATTRACTION BENEFITS FROM EFFORTS TO REPLANT NATIVE TREES AND IMPROVE WATER QUALITY.

Ethan Kearns works in AMERICAN FORESTS' Global ReLeaf and Big Tree departments.

COPYRIGHT 2005 American Forests
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