Biotic Factors

Mammals:

Florida Panther:

The Florida panther is a North American cougar population found in South Florida. It lives in pinelands, tropical hardwood hammocks, and mixed freshwater swamp forests.

Florida Black Bear:

The Florida black bear (Ursus americanus floridanus) is a subspecies of the American black bear that has historically ranged throughout most of Florida and the southern portions of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. The large black-furred bears live mainly in forested areas and have seen recent habitat reduction throughout the state due to increased human development, as well as habitat modifications within bear habitat.

Everglades Mink:

The American mink (Neovison vison) is a semiaquatic species of mustelid native to North America, though human intervention has expanded its range to many parts of Europe and South America.

Key Deer:

The Key deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium) is an endangered deer that lives only in the Florida Keys. It is a subspecies of the white-tailed deer (O. virginianus). It is the smallest North American deer.

Manatees: Manatees are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows.

White-Tailed Deer:

The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, Ecuador, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia.

River Otter:

The North American river otter (Lontra canadensis), also known as the northern river otter or common otter, is a semiaquatic mammal endemic to the North American continent found in and along its waterways and coasts.

Fish:

Carp:

Carp are various species of freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of Africa, Australia and most of the United States.

Snapper:

Lutjanidae, or snappers. are a family of perciform fish, mainly marine, but with some members inhabiting estuaries, feeding in fresh water.

Bluegill:

The bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) is a species of freshwater fish sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose". It is a member of the sunfish family Centrarchidae of the order Perciformes. It is native to North America and lives in streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds.

Reptiles:

American Alligator:

The American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), sometimes referred to colloquially as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile native to the Southeastern United States and northeastern Mexico.

Burmese Python:

The Burmese python (Python bivittatus) is one of the largest species of snakes. It is native to a large area of Southeast Asia but is found as an invasive species elsewhere. Until 2009, it was considered a subspecies of Python molurus, but is now recognized as belonging to a distinct species.

Green Iguana:

The green iguana (Iguana iguana), also known as the American iguana or the common green iguana, is a large, arboreal, mostly herbivorous species of lizard of the genus Iguana. Usually, this animal is simply called the iguana. The green iguana ranges over a large geographic area.

Florida red-bellied cooter:

The Florida red-bellied cooter or Florida redbelly turtle (Pseudemys nelsoni) is a species of turtle in the family Emydidae.

American Crocodile:

The American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) is a species of crocodilian found in the Neotropics. It is the most widespread of the four extant species of crocodiles from the Americas, with populations present from South Florida and the coasts of Mexico to as far south as Peru and Venezuela.

Plants:

Saw Grass:

Cladium (fen-sedge, sawgrass or twig-sedge) is a genus of large sedges, with a nearly worldwide distribution in tropical and temperate regions. These are plants characterized by long, narrow (grass-like) leaves having sharp, often serrated (sawtooth-like) margins, and flowering stems 1–3 m tall bearing a much-branched inflorescence.

Mangroves:
A mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species.

Cypress:
Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae.

Willow:
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, form the genus Salix, are around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.