The United States in 1906 planted Australian melaleuca trees to drain Florida’s wetlands, but scientists now say they spread across nearly 500,000 acres, replacing native sawgrass marshes with dense invasive forests that alter fire and water cycles | World News
Florida’s wetlands are battling an ecological crisis, with Australian melaleuca trees, introduced over a century ago to drain swamps, now dominating 400,000 acres. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons Human disturbance in natural ecosystems always results in some unexpected ecological changes that take many years to understand. At the beginning of the last century, the extensive wetlands…
