ABSTRACT
The great biodiversity in Florida is sometimes said to be the most precious natural resource. This chapter considers the way the economy is stimulated when people enjoy the ecosystems and sustain the biodiversity. The energy investment ratio was used to relate the inputs from the economy to the local and free inputs from nature. The chapter shows the economic interface between nature's work in the Everglades National Park and the uses of the park by managers, tourists, and businesses that profit from being next to the park. As human populations have grown, attitudes towards national forests have changed. Many people want them used more as parks, with less clear-cutting, more management for wildlife and biodiversity, less draining of the wetlands, and fewer economic uses. Florida has many endangered species, for which the number of individuals in the remaining population may be close to the minimum number necessary to reproduce the species.
