| Today, water that once sustained the Everglades in controlled through hundreds of miles of canals and levees. Even the twisting Kissimmee River was "straightened out." The 103-mile-long river often overflowed its banks, until engineers dug a 56-mile-long path for it to take. |
Mangrove trees drop their roots from their trunks and branches into mud. There they grow a tangle of "stilts" and new trunks. Thus the mangrove helpls protect shorelines from erosion and helps build new land. In the Everglades, mangroves are threatened by cattails that thrive on water polluted by agricultural runoff. |
Alligators - anothere of the Everglades' threatened species- dig deep holes for their nests. Other animals use these holes, which often fill with water, to sustain themselves during dry spells. |
