Skip to main content

Conservation of the Florida Everglades is a challenge. In addition to polluted runoff, urban encroachment, and water flow disruption, the Everglades have fallen victim to invasive plant and animal species.

Paper instructions:
· Proposal Memo for Final Report Email to me by Friday, July 11.
o Write a 1-2 page memo, addressed to me, requesting approval for your Final Report. Use the model p. 588-589. This is only a rough draft!
o Final Report Overview-please read these instructions on writing the research proposal, progress report and the final report.
o Tips on writing your research proposal memo.
· You also need to submit the Audience Profile p. 31. Submit as one document via course mail by Friday, July 11 with subject line: “PROPOSAL Draft”
Please do not use obesity or global warming as topics.
*Example*
From:??Laura De La Cruz
Date:??3 March 2013
Subject:?Proposal for Analyzing the Best Solutions to Combat Invasive Species in the Florida Everglades
Introduction
Conservation of the Florida Everglades is a challenge. In addition to polluted runoff, urban encroachment, and water flow disruption, the Everglades have fallen victim to invasive plant and animal species. A drive through the Everglades might reveal an alarming number of dead tree trunks along the roads, each previously belonging to an invasive Australian melaleuca tree—sometimes with new saplings sprouting up between the thickly entwined dead trunks. Planted in the mid-1900s to aid the then positively-considered goal of drying out the swampland for human use, now the melaleuca threatens the biodiversity of the Everglades.
Statement of Problem
The Everglades possesses an ecosystem which is wholly unique in this world. With many species classified as endangered or threatened, it must be preserved to ensure any habitat remains for them at all. The growing numbers of individual invasive plant and animal species pose a serious threat not only to the environmental composition of the area but also to the delicate balance in the ecosystem and food chain. If something is not done to decelerate the encroachment of these invasive species, the threat to the native wildlife will increase, likely endangering more and more of the native plants and animals as a result.
Proposed Solutions
An examination of each of the current implemented solutions to combat these invasive species will take into account the number of effective removals for each method. The analysis should also include any adverse effects that are a result of maneuvers to combat the invasive species. For example, the Australian melaleuca has been burned in great swathes and removed by hand. Research may reveal another yet-untested way to remove these invasive species, but the best recommendations will take into account feasibility, likely cost, and other important factors.
Scope
1. What methods are currently being used to combat these invasive species, and how are they performed successfully?
2. How much has each method done to remove these invasive species?
3. How cost-effective are these methods when lined up with budget and general resources?
4. Are there other methods that have not yet been implemented, and if so, why haven’t they been used?
5. What are the negative and positive aspects of each method?
6. Is there anything that can be done to minimize the negative aspects of some methods?
7. Which methods appear to have the most positive impact with the least negative impact, while still being cost-affordable?

Comments