C.W. Deren, B. Glaz, and G.H. Snyder 2
The greater Everglades ecosystem, from the Kissimmee River to Florida Bay, is the largest contiguous wetland in the continental US. As a human-dominated system, it has been drained, fragmented and compartmentalized, with land uses ranging from urban to agricultural to national park and biosphere reserve. The Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA), located along the south shore of Lake Okeechobee, is 283,000 ha of Histosols (organic soils) where sugarcane, vegetables, rice and sod are grown. Farm gate values exceed three quarters of a billion dollars annually. Agricultural production is not sustainable with present farming methods due to the seldom acknowledged but critical depletion of these soils. When drained, EAA Histosols subside about 2.5 cm per year, primarily through microbial oxidation. Soil depths in some areas are as shallow as 40-50 cm over bedrock. In addition, sustainability of the general Everglades ecosystem is not possible without greater quantities of water remaining in the system and made available to Everglades National Park and Florida Bay in particular. A wetland agriculture based on sugarcane and rice may help sustain both agriculture and the ecosystem. The EAA would be able to accumulate more water by growing crops which can thrive under high water table or flooding, thereby reducing soil subsidence and requiring less water be dumped to tide. Wet and dry periods would be established by natural climatic and hydrologic rhythms so that the agricultural system mimics many features of the natural wetland.
