European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 14, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Lake s Rescue threatens Everglades by Jon Northeimer new York times e i of l 1 1 0 Savl .1 1i c Choli to Jii fun re to Crimin i u1 i be has flt diverted my the Lake to of Lrol it Irum additional harmful in cd i nutrients and Scollo the c Judas there n produces thu growth of on crowding Oul inc natural is grass covering thin tjivc6 the cveryi.vk". Is distinctive sea of grass look aug dirt c.i1t.i, have proliferated on 20.000 Acri ii rim of he Lake rust a Corner of the vast 7,800 ski tvs ". Vot a Yjih Faaa covered by the Everglades. Bui Trie id Vance of the dense cattails to More rapid than Cipf led according to biologists studying the problem in s was evidence of altering the food Chain thai a variety of wit Lilc m the Only tropical mar i of its kind m North America Ift a re Fri a new problem that it unchecked a. A , Doans Lecam Loir re Iten Everglades iviicn., i irk Iscil " id of Paul Parks of Florida Coli " it environment a a Nate group t,i.,.r,f. phosphorous and Nitro Qun Verc in Shortis in Iierda before Man introduced Lef Lihzis i no Komrek As Les beginning in this Century As larger Aryl Quan Lipics have grained off into Okeechobee he t Croatt cd to kill the Lake by encouraging algae ref o ath Jrex Chomg Oil 0�ygen Stoa itus Lupoli Laden water is being dispersed South into tru 1 ,irrjijrji5, Cattail marshes Are thriving on Elva Nuiji i fist As a houseplant benefits from fertilizer. I a Inonu Bak to saw grass marshes that had Only a ii.-. . A year by Lojec and the cattails have taken o i completely sad Steve Davis a senior in Jacc Fahsl with the South Florida water Page 16 management District. We Aie in the Middle of a three year study trying to Chart the progression of the he said. All the evidence is that m is very rapid and that they crowd out the Nal uial grass and change microorganisms at the Bottom of Iho food Chain that will produce a no alive Impact on higher the dense Cattail marshes of the Typo that can be found As far North As Canada have become established in jut a few years in that time the Stato has sought ways to keep nut nent Levels in Lake Okeechobee from reaching a toxic stage that could kill the Bountiful stocks of Largo Mouth Bass and Ether game Lish. But is proving Milf iseult to pro decl the Lake the Linchpin of populous South Florida s fresh water Supply network without damaging other Koy elements of the fragile environment. Historically water used in the sugar Cano and vegetable Fields South of the Lake was pumped Back into it As a conservation measure during the Winter Spring dry season. This water reentered Tho Lake Richer in nutrients than when it was originally discharged. This pumping was severely curbed in 1979 to reduce the nutrient level in the Lake and the water was sent flowing into marshes South of Tho Cane Fields. Officials hoped thai As nutrient loaded water spread Over the Marshlands existing vege Lalion could remove the phosphorous and nitrogen at Little Tost to Iho environment instead cattails sprang up in the marshes and spread rapidly in await with individual plans racing ahead along canals and other Waterways to establish Boach hands farther Down Lieam. The saw grass. Unaccustomed to High Levels of nutrients was apparently confused by the nutrient singes and stored it instead of converting it to new growth cat lairs by comparison thrived and immediately threw out new stems Quick outgrowing the to Ding Sartara a. Rising it Over and stealing its us night. It tall maracas near la oxen Choloe Ere advancing it rate beyond scientists expectations. Moreover cattails broadcast their seeds in the air overwhelming the saw grass which does not. The result is the saw grasses Are quickly encircled with new competing plants. The density of l growth also blocks out sunlight robbing the water of oxygen. Further when saw grass Dies it sinks to the Bollom of the water As a fibrous mass. Dead cattails float on the surface. Mocking More sunlight from the Depths. The cumulative Impact of the presence u Cati Sils biologists say is to change the microscopic life of the Marsh water and kill invertebrates and higher Lorms of life including Lish. James a Kushlan a biologist who has done extensive research work on Florida a Miles. Believes Many of the wading fish eating waterfowl of the Everglades like the herons Woods Lork and ibis Rue vulnerable to a change away from the natural vegetation. An extremely dense Cattail Thicket is not a place for he said. The Everglades serves As a Winter nesting area for water owl from across the Eastern United slates and Canada said Kushlan. He was a wildlife specialist Wilh Everglades National Park for 10 years before be comr professor of biological sciences at East Texas stale in is the indigenous population thai suiters me most from changes in me Everglades to added saying the population of the endangered Woods Lork has declined by 75 percent m 20 years meanwhile no Blue Green algae blooms lost summer killed thousands of Gam Elish and snails by drawing oxygen out of widespread areas of Okiec Hobac increasing fears thai the Lake is dying we Don t know if Lake Okeechobee is on the Brink o catastrophe whether it can struggle on Tor years like said Parks of the Florida do lenders of the environment the water management District is proceeding via its studies 35 last As a bureaucracy can move and All Hope mat is fast enough the stars and stripes Friday August 4,1987
