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Everglades National ParkErnest Coe Visitor Center
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Everglades National Park
Park Significance

Everglades National Park is:

  • Largest continuous stand of sawgrass prairie in North America.
  • Predominant water recharge area for all of South Florida through the Biscayne aquifer.
  • A World Heritage Site, a Biosphere Reserve, a Wetland of International Significance, and an Outstanding Florida Water.
  • Home of fourteen endangered and nine threatened species.
  • Largest mangrove ecosystem in the western hemisphere.
  • Largest designated wilderness in the southeast.
  • Most significant breeding grounds for tropical wading birds in North America.
  • Site of significant ethnographic resources.
  • Site of a nationally significant estuarine complex in Florida Bay.
  • Only subtropical preserve on the North American continent.
  • Major "edge" area of the northern and southern limits for many species creating a unique mingling of diverse temperate and subtropical species
Baby alligator  

Did You Know?
Female alligators will vehemently protect their nests and their young until they reach one to two years of age. Keep your eyes out for baby alligators in the Everglades - they're about a foot long with yellow stripes.

Last Updated: September 11, 2007 at 12:17 EST