National Park Service reports ecological damages to UNESCO

A collapsing roseate spoonbill rookery in Florida Bay, record numbers of invasive fish species, and the expanded range of the Burmese python are major threats to preserving Florida's sole World Heritage Site: Everglades National Park.

The National Park Service this week submitted its 2015 review of ecological conditions in the Everglades to the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization's World Heritage Committee. The park was listed as a World Heritage site and has been been on the UN's World Heritage Sites in Danger since 1993.

Lionfish in Florida Bay are invading every type of habitat in the southern system, and the report says lionfish density is higher in mangrove and sea grass bed areas than on offshore reefs. The latter may eventually hit Florida's world-class coastal fishing because lionfish suck up all sorts of native fish and have no natural predators here.

Climate change (Gov. Rick Scott has been accused of banning the use of this term in various state departments earlier this year) was also listed as a major threat to preserving Everglades National Park.

Hydrological conditions have likely been forever altered, and the report acknowledges that the scientific community is proceeding as though "we will not achieve full return to an historical Everglades."

Invasive exotics are one of the top threats to native plants, birds and animals. Animals like the Burmese python, first documented in Everglades National Park in the 1980s, will likely never be completely removed from the system. Trees like Brazilian pepper and melaleuca have already infested much of Everglades National Park and adjacent lands like the Big Cypress National Preserve, which is also managed by the National Parks Service.

"Available evidence suggests Burmese pythons occupy an increasingly larger range over which they are having a significant impact," the report reads. "There remains little optimism for widespread control."

Hydrological changes make life even easier for invasive species, many of which have no predators in this system and feed on endangered animals.

Lack of water flow to Everglades National Park has been an issue for decades, and this newest report says the biggest problem in the system is water quantity. Water flow was listed under significant concern, the highest of three rankings used to assess ecological changes.

Phosphorus loads, a major impediment to sending Lake Okeechobee water to Everglades National Park, have stayed stable in most areas and have improved in Shark River Slough interior marsh.

Abundance of native fish improved over the last five years in the Shark River Slough but went down in Taylor Slough.

Alligator nesting is stable is most areas, with slight improvements reported for overall numbers.

The report also acknowledges that most of the water quality and quantity issues stem from lands outside the park boundary.