This project focuses on the lower trophic levels of food webs in the freshwater marshes of the Everglades. The lower trophic levels contain primary producers and primary consumers. These small animals comprise primary consumers. They channel energy and material to support large animals in the upper trophic levels, such as alligators and wading birds. The marshes are covered by emergent macrophytes.
Few animals appear to consume live emergent macrophytes directly.
Nevertheless, emergent macrophytes may provide habitats for terrestrial predators and produce a large amount of detritus, supporting detrital food chains in aquatic habitats. The environmental conditions have been significantly changed in the Everglades wetland. These changes affect the dynamics of communities and food webs. Thus, hydrology and phosphorus reduction are two major measures in the ecological restoration of the Everglades. Hydrology and phosphorus enrichment drive the dynamics of primary producers.