The effects of climate change are far reaching - what changes can you see today?
While you’re here, there are some key observations we ask that you submit before logging the site. Please submit these in the message center or to: nps_ever_science_comms@nps.gov. Read the text below for more information.
- Please take a point at the highwater line and submit the coordinates. The highwater line will often look like a brown stripe of dead seagrass and seaweed.
- What do you think this spot will be like if sea level rises 1 foot? 3 feet? 5 feet?
- Please find a buttonwood tree and take a GPS point of its location then submit the coordinates. Learn more about buttonweed trees here: https://www.fnps.org/plant/conocarpus-erectus.
- Please take a photo from the EarthCache roughly in each of the 4 cardinal directions (North, East, South, West) and submit these.
South Florida’s ecosystems are extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change, mainly because of the region’s low-lying elevation. Here, just a few inches can be the difference between a wetland and an upland ecosystem. Exacerbating matters, jutting out into the warming ocean waters of the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico puts the region at heightened risk of damaging storm surges from increasingly frequent and/or more intense tropical storms and hurricanes.
Sea level rise is already changing South Florida’s coastal ecosystems, but native habitats can be irrevocably altered long before the waves of Florida Bay are lapping at their door.
Saltwater intrusion is the process where seawater pushes against and infiltrates underground freshwater reservoirs called aquifers. South Florida’s Biscayne aquifer is a surficial aquifer because it lies just below the surface and is replenished by groundwater and rainfall. South Florida’s porous bedrock means that there is often interchange between the aquifer and both ground and surfacewater. This means that saltwater intrusion could eventually make it impossible for plants intolerant of saltwater to grow in areas far from the coast.
In addition, storm surges can move saltwater deep into freshwater ecosystems where this salt can change soil chemistry and lead to ecosystem-altering plant community changes. Continued sea level rise and climate change-driven increases in intensity or frequency of tropical cyclones will allow the impact of saltwater intrusion and storm surges to penetrate farther and farther inland.
Where you are standing now is a portion of the buttonwood ridge. This narrow ridge formed over thousands of years as sand and mud accumulated. It is slightly higher in elevation than the areas on either side, north and south, and it runs along the coast of Florida’s southernmost tip. Because of its slightly higher elevation, a unique habitat formed here long ago – one that is inhabited by species that are mostly not salt-tolerant but which is also surrounded by habitats comprised of those that are, namely salt marsh and mangrove forest. The soils of the buttonwood ridge form a freshwater lens from rainfall but this is threatened by storm surges, saltwater intrusion, and ultimately sea level rise.
This unique habitat is home to rare tropical plant species that are found nowhere else in the United States. As sea levels rise, saltwater intrusion into groundwater threatens the existence of plants in this habitat that are intolerant of saltwater. Storm surges that over top the ridge can physically remove plants during a storm and deposit salt, which can affect the soil chemistry long after skies clear. Ultimately, the buttonwood ridge is at risk of disappearing under the waves altogether.
Unfortunately, since the buttonwood ridge is surrounded by saltwater ecosystems, many of the rare plants that inhabit the buttonwood ridge are at risk of being extirpated, or completely wiped out from the region, because they have no ways of naturally migrating to areas with the right growing conditions. Many of these rare plants are listed as endangered species.
This portion of the buttonwood ridge has been altered through human use for the last century, but you can still find characteristic buttonwood trees and other associated species. You can view unaltered sections of the buttonwood ridge along the Coastal Prairie Trail.
Please Note: this EarthCache has been developed by Everglades National Park for the enjoyment of visitors. The placement of caches on lands managed by the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service remains generally prohibited. The placement of any new cache requires advance written approval from the park.
Additional Information:
For more information please read Sea-level rise: Observations, impacts, and proactive measures in Everglades National Park.