Everglades Wildguide / Handbook 143

Handbook 143
by Jean Craighead George Illustrations by Betty Fraser
The Natural History of Everglades National Park, Florida
Produced by the Division of Publications National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior Washington, D.C. 1988
Here is the story of the plants and animals of the Everglades, this country’s subtropical kingdom. Plants and animals found nowhere else in the 50 states are found here in abundance, though in an increasingly perilous state. In this handbook, first published in 1972, author and researcher Jean Craighead George brings to the telling of this story long years of study and understanding. Checklists and glossaries at the back buttress her account of the natural history of this national park.
National Park Handbooks, compact introductions to the great natural and historic places administered by the National Park Service, are published to support the National Park Service’s management programs at the parks and to promote understanding and enjoyment of the parks. Each is intended to be informative reading and a useful guide before, during, and after a park visit. More than 100 titles are in print. This is Handbook 143. You may purchase the handbooks through the mail by writing to Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.
Library of Congress card number: 73-600077 ISBN 0-912627-29-8
★GPO: 1987—181-917/60504
The park’s array of plants and animals is a blend of tropical species, most of which made their way across the water from the Caribbean islands, and species from the Temperate Zone, which embraces all of Florida. All of these inhabitants exist here through adaptation to the region’s peculiar cycles of flood, drought, and fire and by virtue of subtle variations in temperature, altitude, and soil.
HISTORIC DRAINAGE PATTERNS OF SOUTH FLORIDA
DRAINAGE PATTERNS OF SOUTH FLORIDA TODAY