Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge
Encyclopedia
Everglades
The Everglades are subtropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large watershed. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee...
wetland ecosystem. Located in Palm Beach County, Florida
Palm Beach County, Florida
Palm Beach County is the largest county in the state of Florida in total area, and third in population. As of 2010, the county's estimated population was 1,320,134, making it the twenty-eighth most populous in the United States...
, west of Boynton Beach
Boynton Beach, Florida
Boynton Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 60,389 at the 2000 census. As of 2006, the city had a population of 66,714 according to the University of Florida, Bureau of Economic and Business Research...
., Loxahatchee is one of over 500 national wildlife refuge
National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the world's premiere system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife and plants...
s located throughout the United States and administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
. The refuge not only preserves and protects native wildlife, but also offers compatible public recreational and educational opportunities including walking trails, a canoe trail, bike trail, boat ramps, fishing platform, observation towers, butterfly garden, and a visitor center. It is home to American Alligator
American Alligator
The American alligator , sometimes referred to colloquially as a gator, is a reptile endemic only to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the two living species of alligator, in the genus Alligator, within the family Alligatoridae...
, the endangered Snail Kite
Snail Kite
The Snail Kite is a bird of prey within the family Accipitridae, which also includes the eagles, hawks, and Old World vultures. Its relative, the Slender-billed Kite, is now again placed in Helicolestes, making the genus Rostrhamus monotypic...
, and as many as 257 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s. As such, it has been designated a 'gateway site' for the Great Florida Birding Trail
Great Florida Birding Trail
The 2000 mile long Great Florida Birding Trail is a collection of more than 400 locations in the U.S. state of Florida...
.
Not quite all of the 147392 acres (596.5 km²) refuge is Everglades
Everglades
The Everglades are subtropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large watershed. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee...
marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
habitat. A four hundred acre Bald Cypress
Taxodium distichum
Taxodium distichum is a species of conifer native to the southeastern United States.-Characteristics:...
swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
is the largest remaining remnant of a cypress strand that once separated the pine flatwood
Flatwood
Flatwood is a soil series with impaired drainage that occurs in the southeastern United States. Flatwood soils are upland soils formed from marine sediments. A shallow water table plays a role in soil formation, typically the water table is only a few feet deep and fluctuates during the year...
s in the east from the Everglades marshes. A boardwalk into the swamp gives the visitor a chance for an up-close swamp experience without getting his or her feet wet. Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Wilma was the twenty-second storm , thirteenth hurricane, sixth major hurricane, and fourth Category 5 hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 season...
damaged the refuge in October 2005, and the administration building was condemned.
Melaleuca quinquenervia
Melaleuca quinquenervia, commonly known as Niaouli or Broad-leaved paperbark or the Paper Bark Tea Tree, is a small- to medium-sized tree of the allspice family, Myrtaceae. The plant is native to New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea and coastal Eastern Australia, from Botany Bay in New South Wales...
) and Old World climbing fern (Lygodium microphyllum
Lygodium microphyllum
Lygodium microphyllum is a climbing fern originating in tropical Africa, South East Asia, Melanesia and Australia. It is an invasive weed in the US States of Florida and Alabama where it invades open forest and wetland areas...
), both rapidly growing non-native species, which are quickly overgrowing the native flora and are likely not compatible with the native wildlife.