The importance of cypress domes in Southwest Florida

The cypress trees in the wetlands help fight climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the air, and they can be found across Southwest Florida.

Chad Evers, an instructor with the FGCU Department of Ecology and Environmental Studies, led WINK News through the wetlands on the university’s campus. We walked into waist-deep water to show how these wetlands work together to help the environment.

Carbon is stored in trees and soil, and oxygen gets released into the atmosphere, but that’s not all.

If you walk into a cypress dome from the edge, the water keeps getting deeper and deeper until you make it to the center.

“If you look at it from space, or like the sky looking down, there is kind of a hole in the middle of it,” Evers explained, “but if you look at it from an ariel side view, it looks like a dome … because these are the tallest trees right around the center of it.”

These domes house beautiful landscapes, clean water, and wildlife.

Evers said some of the cypress dome’s benefits include flood control and water filtration.

When it rains on buildings, parking lots, or sidewalks, the water doesn’t soak in and instead runs off and gets redirected. However, wetlands act like a sponge.

Once the wetlands become saturated, the water leaks out at a controlled rate.

While walking through the cypress dome, Evers said one of the things you notice is the clear water, “as it flows through here, it’s actually getting filtered by our natural campus wetland,” helping to keep nutrients that feed harmful algal blooms out of our water.

The water also helps stabilize the climate.

“One of the nice things is on a hot day, it’s probably like 15 degrees lower,” he added.

With regard to the concern of gators or snakes, “as far as like the scary snakes and alligators, they’re going to hear you coming and they’re going to head in the opposite direction, especially if you’re out there with a class.” Evers said.