Everglades National Park Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Everglades National Park - Research Paper Example Background: Balanced Diversity Everglades National Park is the largest park and preserve in the state of Florida. It has a combination of sensitive wetland and estuarine environment, spanning 1,508,000 acres in area. The mangroves that mostly constitute the park are important breeding ground for numerous marine species as well as a natural habitat for alligators and many species of birds. It is also considered the largest wilderness area east of the Rocky Mountain, the biggest continuous section of saw-grass prairie and the most important breeding location for tropical wading birds in the North America. (Kras 2009, p. 9) In 1979, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated it as a world heritage site. Such recognition was fundamentally given due to its rich biological diversity, which represented a balanced relationship of human life and nature. According to UNESCO, the area has extreme importance to the world because it has a unique blen d of human history and the diverse life forms that harmoniously lived together for ages, including those animals and plants that are considered endangered species. (Kras, p. 9) Ecological relationships A Senate Report summed up the Everglades Park’s interesting interrelationships among its life forms. It explained: The intermingling of plant and animal species from both the tropical and temperate zones, plus the merging of freshwater and saltwater habitats provide the vast biological diversity that makes Everglades National Park unique. (US Congress, p. 340) Experts point out that the park is not consisted of one single ecosystem but a system of ecosystems. The above statement underscores this highlighting how numerous and diverse habitats are in existence that offer homes to a number of flora and fauna that collectively form a kind of relationship that continually amazes scientists. Much of the area is covered by saw grass, trees and shrubs as well as palm trees, cypresses, among other tropical plants. They provide a natural habitat for animals like the American crocodile, alligators, deer, Florida panther, roseate spoonbill, wood stork, snakes, turtles, among other reptiles and animals that are endangered like the southern bald eagle. The animals are sufficiently represented to sustain a healthy food chain and sheet-flow ecosystem connected by the water system beginning with Kissimmee River, into the Lake Okeechobee and, finally into the Gulf of Mexico. The intrusion of man, particularly with the agriculture cultivation that takes place in the Everglades’ periphery, and the damage it inflicts is increasingly destroying the habitats and the relationships within. For instance, the fertilizers discharged from nearby agricultural areas led to the growth of cat-tails and furry grasses that began depleting oxygen from the waters, endangering the lives of several animals that thrive on them. (Europa 2001, p. 77) Human Intrusion Another factor that mak es Everglades National Park unique is the fact that it is situated in a mouth of a waterway instead of in a headwater like Glacier, Grand Teton and Yellowstone. Unfortunately, this variable became a major contributor in the damage being done to the park. Human activities have disrupted the water cycle that occurs within the area due to agricultural cultivation and the

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy - Essay Example At the age of six, he had already developed contractures with the calf muscles being the most severely affected (Larsen & Lubkin, 2013). By the age of nine climbing stairs and rising unaided was impossible, and at ten years, he was confined to a wheelchair. He has weakening trunk muscles which can easily cause scoliosis. His diaphragm muscles are also weakened which makes breathing and coughing difficult, and increases chances of lung infection. Complications such as sleep-disordered breathing; ineffective cough and nocturnal hypoventilation are being experienced. The patient also has difficulties learning through listening and attention span is low (American Thoracic Society, 2010). DMD symptom management The focus of this study is the symptom management of neuromuscular and skeletal muscles. In a review article by a team of 84 practitioners representing the specialists who provide care to DMD patients selected by Centre for Disease Control (CDC), they independently rated the interv entions and assessments that are used in DMD management (DMD Care Considerations Working Group, 2009). From this assessment, CDC expert panelists came up with management interventions for the neuro and skeletal muscles for a DMD patient at the stage in which this patient is. The first intervention for muscle strength and function is pharmacological intervention to address the progression of muscle degeneration in a DMD patient. The treatment that the review focuses on is the use of the glucocorticoids to optimize strength and function of these muscles. Glucocorticoids slow the collapsing of muscle strength, as well as its function, thereby reducing the risk of scoliosis and stabilize pulmonary function. The initial RCTs of patients on 0.75 mg/kg daily dose of prednisone for six months showed improvement in muscle strength. Prednisolone and deflazacort are other glucocorticoids that were shown to be effective on a daily dose instead of alternate days. These medications were shown als o to prolong ambulation and in patients that have become non- ambulatory showed reduced risks of progressive scoliosis and stabilization of pulmonary function. There is no agreed time to start the glucocorticoids therapy since this is based on serial assessments, as well as parental report in the disease’s three phases. However, for a patient who has lost ambulation such as this one, the CDC experts review points the therapy can be introduced or continued in order to preserve upper limb strength, reduce progression of scoliosis and slow down a loss of respiratory and cardiac function. The review concludes that other supplements could be used to manage the neuro and skeletal muscles weaknesses such as coenzyme Q10, carnitine, and antioxidants such as fish oils, vitamin E, green tea extracts and amino acids. In another review article by the CDC expert panel on the implementation of multidisciplinary care in the management of DMD, the expert panel of the CDC project addresses sk eletal and respiratory management (DMD Care Considerations Working Group, 2009). In spinal management, the earlier management with the use of glucocorticoid treatment is retaliated to curb progression of scoliosis and a small chance of developing vertebral compression fractures caused by osteoporosis.