ENVIRONMENT: All the external conditions, such as soil, water, air, and organisms, surrounding a living thing.
ESTIVATION: A prolonged dormant or sleeplike state that enables an animal to survive the summer in a hot climate. As in hibernation, breathing and heartbeat slow down, and the animal neither eats nor drinks.
ESTUARY: The portion of a river or coastal wetland affected by the rise and fall of the tide, containing a graded mixture of fresh and salt water.
EVERGLADE: A tract of marshy land covered in places with tall grasses. (In this book, “the [everglades]” refers to the river of grass; “Everglades” refers to the park, which contains other [habitats] besides everglades.)
EXOTIC: A foreign plant or animal that has been introduced, intentionally or unintentionally, into a new area.
FOOD CHAIN: A series of plants and animals linked by their food relationships, beginning with a green plant and ending with a [predator].
HABITAT: The place where an organism lives; the immediate surroundings, living and unliving, of an organism. The [habitat] of the pine warbler is the pinelands; the habitat of an internal parasite of this bird is the body of the warbler.
HAMMOCK: A dense growth of broad-leaved trees on a slightly elevated area, not wet enough to be a [swamp]. In the park, [hammocks] are surrounded either by pineland or by marshland (glades).
HARDWOOD TREES: Trees with broad leaves (as opposed to conebearing trees, which have needles or scales). Most [hardwood trees] are deciduous, though many in south Florida retain their leaves throughout the year.
KEY: A reef or low-lying island. In south Florida, the term “[key]” is often also applied to [hammocks] or pinelands, which occupy areas where the [limestone] is raised above the surrounding wetlands.