Table 14. Population of Dade, Collier, and Monroe counties from 1900 to 1990 [Andriot, 1983; 
and Bureau of the Census, 1994]. 
Year 
Dade 
1900 
4955 
1910 
1 1933 
1920 
42753 
1930 
142955 
1940 
267739 
1950 
495084 
1960 
936047 
1 970 
1267792 
1980 
1629701 
1 990 
1937094 
Monroe 
Collier 
1 8006 
21563 
19550 
1 3624 
2883 
14078 
5102 
29957 
6488 
47921 
1 5753 
52586 
37040 
63188 
85971 
78024 
152099 
units: Unit 1, coastal prairie/mangrove swamp/estuarine marsh; Unit 2, Everglades prairie; 
and Unit 3, pineland. Of these three units, Unit 1 fires are closest to Florida Bay and the Ten 
Thousand Islands. Fires within the mangrove areas are mostly caused by lightning although 
some are human induced. Lightning fires in salt marshes can burn for several days, although the 
rate of spread is quite slow. These types of fires occur mostly during the wet season. 
Fire records from freshwater wetlands in Everglades National Park (1948 - 1992) and Water 
Conservation Areas 2 and 3 (1980 - 1990) were analyzed by Gunderson and Snyder (1994) for 
temporal and spatial patterns. During the 45 yrs of record in Everglades National Park, 752 
fires were registered, with sizes ranging up to -75,000 ha. Over the 11 yrs of record in the 
Water Conservation Areas, 127 fires were registered, the largest of which was -34,000 ha. 
Rank order pattern of fire sizes followed a log-normal distribution, with an anomalous 
clustering of fires ranging from 8000 to 15,000 ha. Fourier analyses of the two data sets 
revealed dominant cycles with frequencies of 7 months, 1 yr, and 10-14 yrs. The annual and 
monthly frequencies occur at the same scale as seasonal variation in both drying patterns 
(rainfall and surface moisture) and in nonhuman ignition sources. The factor influencing the 
longer cycles appeared to be climatic variation, although the causal mechanisms are unclear. 
Human-caused fires account for most fires and area burned, although more lightning fires have 
been recorded in recent years. 
7. ANTHROPOGENIC CHANGES 
7.1. Population changes 
The population of the southeast United States has increased in recent decades and is projected 
to continue to do so at the highest rate of all regions in the Nation (Culliton et al., 1990) further 
stressing the ecosystems within the Southeast. Eastern Florida counties are expected to grow 
at the fastest rate, and are projected to have the highest population density in the Southeast 
United States by 2010. Florida counties on the Gulf coast are also expected to increase in 
population, except for Monroe County, which is expected to have a low population density. The 
population in the three Florida counties surrounding Florida Bay from 1900 to the present is 
listed in Table 14 and shown graphically in Figure 12. 
38 
