Ecology
The park includes several ecosystems, each supporting its own unique flora and fauna. Mangrove swamp, lagoon, island key and offshore reef habitats provide a diversity of species. In the semi-tropical environment the seasons are differentiated mainly by rainfall with warm to hot, wet summers featuring occasional tropical storms and cooler, drier winters. Bay salinity varies accordingly, with lower salinity levels in the summer, trending to more fresh water on the west side where new water flows in.
Hundreds of species of fish are present in park waters, more than fifty crustacean species ranging from isopods to giant blue land crabs, about two hundred species of birds and about 27 mammal species, both terrestrial and marine. Molluscs include a variety of bivalves, terrestrial and marine snails, sea hares, sea slugs and two cephalopods, the Caribbean reef octopus and the Caribbean reef squid.
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Famous quotes containing the word ecology:
“... the fundamental principles of ecology govern our lives wherever we live, and ... we must wake up to this fact or be lost.”
—Karin Sheldon (b. c. 1945)