Aerial view of the saline glades, which are sawgrass marsh interspersed with clumps of short mangrove trees. Wispy Australian Pine tress tower over the other vegetation/NPS

Work soon will begin to remove invasive Australian pine trees along the shoreline of Florida Bay in Everglades National Park.

Thanks to funding from Publix, an employee-owned grocery chain, the National Park Service has awarded a contract to Environmental Quality, Inc., also known as EQI, to remove the trees. This project focuses on improving the saline glades region of the park by controlling Australian pine trees, one of the most invasive plant species in Everglades National Park. The trees reduce available habitat for native plants and animals and alter freshwater flow into Florida Bay. 

“The saline glades are one of the rare treasures protected in Everglades National Park and an important piece of the greater ecosystem,” said Everglades Superintendent Pedro Ramos. “This partnership project is an example of the good work we can accomplish in parks when donors work with our non-profit partners to help restore and preserve our federal lands for the benefit of all.”   

This three-year project is expected to begin in January and will include using a variety of tools to eliminate Australian pine trees. The contract with EQI will complete phase one of the three-phase project. Although treatment to control Australian pine in other areas of the park has been successful, the first year of this project will help guide the process in future years.  

Once covering approximately 1,300 acres, the majority of the remaining Australian pine trees in the park are found in the remote and difficult-to-access saline glades in the southeastern part of the park. The saline glades region is easily seen from US-1 on the 18-mile stretch from the Florida mainland to the Florida Keys and is home to iconic plants and animals like dwarf red mangroves, roseate spoonbills, and American crocodiles. This transitional ecosystem lies between the freshwater, sawgrass-dominated marshes of the Everglades and the mangrove forests that line Florida’s southern coast. Freshwater flowing through the saline glades into Florida Bay is critical to keep the estuary healthy. 

Like the rest of the Everglades, the saline glades are very low in nutrients, which constrains the growth of red mangroves and other native plants. Unlike red mangroves, Australian pines trees are nitrogen-fixing, meaning they can utilize atmospheric nitrogen and are not growth-inhibited by low levels of this important soil nutrient. As a result, these highly invasive trees often tower over and shade out local flora. 

Besides physically outcompeting native species, the roots and shed needles of the Australian pine tree chemically impede the growth of nearby plants. The trees’ dominance reduces available habitat for wildlife in the saline glades. In addition, these larger trees likely absorb a much greater amount of freshwater compared to native plants. Over time, the presence of the invasive trees could affect the flow of freshwater into Florida Bay, which, could curtail Everglades restoration efforts focused on the bay. 

This project is a prime example of what collaborations between private, non-profit, and public institutions can make possible. Publix donated funding for the project to the National Park Foundation, which, then provided a grant to Everglades National Park. Additional funding for the project is also being provided by the National Park Service’s Florida and Caribbean Invasive Plant Management Team.