Everglades & Dry Tortugas Biosphere Reserve

Everglades & Dry Tortugas Biosphere Reserve
Snowy Egrets in Everglades National Park
Location	Florida, USA
Coordinates	25°1′48″N 80°45′0″W / 25.03000°N 80.75000°W / 25.03000; -80.75000Coordinates: 25°1′48″N 80°45′0″W / 25.03000°N 80.75000°W / 25.03000; -80.75000
Area	636,411 hectares (2,457.20 sq mi)
Established	1976

The Everglades & Dry Tortugas Biosphere Reserve (established 1976) is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. The 636,411 hectares (2,457.20 sq mi) reserve encompasses Everglades National Park and Dry Tortugas National Park, including historic Fort Jefferson and the seven Dry Tortugas islands.

Everglades National Park is a shallow basin tilted to the southwest and underlain by extensive limestones.

Dry Tortugas National Park consists of a group of seven coral reefs with three major banks (Pulaski, Loggerhead and Long Key) forming a pseudo-atoll with a mud-bank type formation.

The biosphere reserve lies at the interface between temperate and subtropical America between fresh and brackish water, shallow bays, deeper coastal waters and coral reefs, thus creating a complex of habitats supporting a high diversity of flora and fauna.

The area of transition from freshwater (glades) to saltwater (mangrove) is a highly productive zone that incubates great numbers of economically valuable crustaceans. Southern Florida vegetation is unique in the United States, but similar communities occur throughout the Caribbean and parts of tropical America.

Habitats include freshwater and wet prairies characterized by islands of tropical hardwood trees; salt marshes; mangrove forests; beach and dune complexes; brackish water estuaries; cypress swamps; marine systems; and coral reefs.

The reserve contains some 200 known archaeological sites, with two archaeological districts nominated in the National Register of Historic Places. Historic use has left a rich record from Native American use, settlement, farming and fishing activities.