Ecological Sustainability Goals

he loss of more than half of the original Everglades

 ecosystem makes full restoration and a complete
 return to historical conditions impossible. The
charette, therefore, defined ecological sustainability goals
as the recovery of the defining features of the original Ever-
glades. Two critical ecological characteristics are the de-
fining features for sustainability of the natural dynamics
of the Everglades. Large space and time scales supported
large populations of animals; localized climatic condi-
tions, disturbances such as fires, freezes, and storms, and
small variations in topography created and maintained
a complex mosaic of habitats across the landscape. This
mosaic is necessary to support the teeming life that was
characteristic of the natural
Everglades.


The abundant native spe-
cies and diverse mosaic of
habitats of the natural Ev-
erglades were sustained by
an inter-play of fundamen-
tal organizing forces across
the landscape: the large
spatial scale of the system,
the patterns of dynamic
water storage and sheet
flow, and the low water
nutrient levels of the re-
gion. These features must
be restored if a healthy Ev-
erglades is ever again to be
experienced.


Ecological sustainability requires
the scientific identification of an
interacting set of ecological and
societal conditions that
constitute a healthy
environment. The ecosystem
management process is
designed to adapt human/
environment interactions in
order to achieve ecological and
societal sustainability goals.