Running head: FOOD WEB

Food Web
Bio 101
December 8, 2014
Steven Peck

FOOD WEB

Food Web
The Everglades of southern Florida boast a level of biodiversity that is not often seen in
this world. The unique position of the Everglades allows it to house both temperate creatures
from further north and is warm enough due to its proximity to tropical areas to house warmer
tropical species (Biodiversity, 2014). According to the National Research Council One recent
catalogue of plant and animal taxa in Everglades National Park, at the southern extreme of the
Greater Everglades ecosystem, found Species richness to be 1033 plant taxa, 60 reptile taxa, 76
mammal taxa (including marine mammals), 432 fish taxa (including marine fish), 349 bird taxa
and 38 amphibian taxa. They counted 67 threatened or endangered animal species (Progress &
Council, 2011).

List of organisms found within the everglades:

Amphibeans: Florida cricket frog, Oak toad, Southern toad, Florida chorus frog, Pig frog,
Peninsula newt, Greater siren, and Everglades dwarf siren.
What the Greater Siren Eats
The greater Siren is mostly a carnivoure. They will eat mostly insects and spiders. They will
also eat crustecians, small fish, cray fish, mollusks, gastropods, bivavles, and in some cases algea
has been noticed in their digestive tracts.
What eats the Greater Siren
Red-bellied mud snakes and American alligators (Mace, Greater Siren, 2014).

Birds: American White Pelican, Brown Pelican, Pied-billed Grebe, Red-necked Grebe,
Magnificent Frigate bird, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Snowy Egret, Greater

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Flamingo, American Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck, Surf Scoter, Black Vulture, Osprey, Red-tailed
Hawk, Merlin, and Sandhill Crane.
One type of animal that is especially suited to the environment of the Everglades is birds
under the classification of wading birds. There are sixteen different types of wading birds found
in the Everglades. The White Ibis is a wading bird that has long slender legs that are perfect for
wading into the muddy water of the Everglades looking for food. The White Ibis tends to prefer
crayfish rather than different types of fish like other types of wading birds. The Ibis has a long
slender curved beak that is used to search in the muddy sediment of the everglade shores for
crawfish holes. The structure of the White Ibis and other wading birds are perfect for their
environments since they have long legs and broad feet used to spread their mass out when
standing in mud rather than on solid ground. Their beaks also allow them the flexibility to
search for food in small holes in the mud or small fish that wish past due to the movement of
their feet in the water (U.S Department of the Interior, 2014).

What the White Ibis eats

It swallows its prey whole. It eats insects, frogs, snails, marine worms, snakes, and small fish
crabs and crawfish.
What Eats the White Ibis
Fish, black-crowned night herons, raccoons, Virginia opossums, alligators, rat snakes (Mace,
2014)
Mammals: White-tailed deer, Florida Panther, Long Tailed Weasel, Grey Fox, Red Fox, Black
Bear, Eastern Spotted Skunk, Pilot Whale, Atlantic Bottle Nose Dolphins, Northern Yellow Bat,

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Florida Bonneted Bat, Marsh Rabbit, Southern Flying Squirrel, Rice Rat, Cotton Mouse, Shorttailed Shrew, Least Shrew, and the Eastern Mole.
What the Red Fox Eats
Red Foxes are omnivores which mean they eat both meat and plant life. The most common
staples of the Red Fox diet are mice, other small rodents, rabbits such as the eastern cotton tail,
insects, birds and reptiles usually on the small sides and fruits.
What eats the Red Fox
Eagles, Coyotes, Gray Wolves, Black Bears, Mountain Lions, and human beings (Mace, 2014)
Reptiles: American Alligator and Crocodile, Green, Brown and Knight Anoles, Florida
Cottonmouth, Eastern Racer, Tokay Gecko, Eastern Mud Snake, Island and Eastern Glass
Lizard, Common Iguana, Tropical House Gecko, Florida Soft-shell Turtle, Loggerhead, Gopher
Tortoise, Stinkpot, and Atlantic Ridley

What the American Crocodile Eats:

The diet of the American Crocodile depends on the level of the crocodiles maturity. As
hatchlings crocodiles will eat mostly insects crustaceans, snails and small fish. When matured
the crocodile will eat anything that moves and will fit in their mouths. This includes fish, crabs,
turtles, snakes, birds and small mammals of all kinds.

What eats the American Crocodile:

The American Crocodile does not have many natural predators when fully matured but during
their eggs stage of life and as hatchlings raccoons, certain fish and wild cats are known predators
(Mace, American Crocodile, 2014)

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Works Cited
Biodiversity. (2014, 12 5). Retrieved from Friends of the Everglades:
http://www.everglades.org/biodiversity/
Mac, J. (2014, 1 6). White Ibis. Retrieved from Animal Diversity Web:
http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Eudocimus_albus/#food_habits
Mace, J. (2014, 1 6). American Crocodile. Retrieved from Animal Diversity Web:
http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Crocodylus_acutus/
Mace, J. (2014, 1 6). Greater Siren. Retrieved from Animal Diversity Web:
http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Siren_lacertina/
Mace, J. (2014, 1 6). Red Fox. Retrieved from Animal Diversity Web:
http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Vulpes_vulpes/
Progress, C. o., & Council, N. R. (2011). Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades. National
Academic Press, 161.
U.S Department of the Interior. (2014, 12 5). Birds. Retrieved from National Park Services:
http://www.nps.gov/ever/naturescience/birds.htm