Everglades National Park 40001 S. West State Rd. Both American alligators and American crocodiles live in the Everglades, but alligators dominate the area. Alligators have been in the Everglades for 60 million years, but the relatively recent arrival of man has threatened their survival. They're carnivorous hunters, eating snakes, fish, turtles, birds, and small mammals. Most gator attacks on people result from females defending their young.
Mangrove trees abound in south Florida.
Their leaves are the basis of the food chain. Three and a half tons of leaves per acre fall into the water around the mangrove trees each year. Bacteria and other microorganisms feed on the decaying leaves. Tiny fish and crustaceans feed on the microbes, and are fed on by larger fish, which are in turn fed on by larger fish and alligators, etc. Leaves and other debris will catch in the roots, expanding and protecting the shoreline from erosion.