Florida mangroves

These trees also have small white flowers that are wind pollinated with 10-12 inch long pencil shaped seeds.

Tiny brownish flowers are located at the terminal ends of the branches forming a seed cluster known as the button.

Two glands are located at the apex of the petiole (leaf stalk) and excrete excess salts and extrafloral nectar.

[1] These plants have differing adaptions to conditions along coasts, and are generally found in partially overlapping bands or zones, roughly parallel to the shoreline.

The buttonwood grows in shallow, brackish water, Florida swamps, or on dry land (the furthest inland).

Instead of dormant seeds, they produce propagules that begin embryonic development while still attached to the tree and only release at the appropriate time into water.

Approximately 280,000 acres (1,100 km2) of mangrove forests are in the hands of the Federal, State and local governments, and of private, non-profit organizations.

Florida Bay is dotted with small islands, which are often no more than mud flats or shoals more or less covered by mangroves.

Three-quarters of the wetlands along the Indian River Lagoon, including mangroves, were impounded for mosquito control during the 20th century.

Many fish feed in the mangrove forests, including snook (Centropomus undecimalis), gray or mangrove snapper (Lutjanus griseus), schoolmaster snapper (Lutjanus apodus), tarpon, jack, sheepshead, red drum, hardhead silverside (Atherinomorus stipes), juvenile blue angelfish (Holocanthus bermudensis), juvenile porkfish (Anisotremus virginicus), lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus), great barracuda (Sphryaena barracuda), scrawled cowfish (Lactophrys quadricornis) and permit (Trachinotus falcatus), as well as shrimp and clams.

The branches of mangroves serve as roosts and rookeries for coastal and wading birds, such as the brown pelican (Oelicanus occidentalis), roseate spoonbill (Ajajia ajaia), frigatebird (Fregata magnificans), double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon), brown noddy (Anous stolidus), great white heron and Wurdemann's heron, color phases of the great blue heron (Adrea herodias), osprey (Pandion haliaetus), snowy egret (Egretta thula), green heron (Butorides striatus), reddish egret (Dichromanassa rufescens) and greater yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca).

Below the water's surface, often encrusted on the mangrove roots, are sponges, anemones, corals, oysters, tunicates, mussels, starfish, crabs, and Florida spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus).

Despite the intricacy, scientists have formulated several hypotheses of the effects of climate change on the mangroves of southern Florida.

The overall hypothesis is that mangroves are vulnerable to climate change, which will affect this ecosystem via three main mechanisms: sea level rise, decreased cold weather events, and increased storm severity.

Mangroves that are on continental coasts instead of low-lying islands experience reduced vulnerability and have greater opportunities to occupy new habitat.

The upper portion of Florida falls into a sub-tropical climate hindering mangrove growth there due to cold weather events such as freezing.

Twenty-eight years of satellite imagery has shown that mangroves have shifted their range northward in Florida in response to less harsh winters and less frequent cold events.

[9] In addition, mangroves have been shown to reduce the flow pressure of water surges associated with tsunamis, hurricanes, etc.

This has implications not only for mangrove forests but also the freshwater habitats they encroach upon and the humans and other animals that depend upon both these ecosystem resources and protection.

While there is little local managers can do to prevent large scale changes such as sea rise and increased storm severity, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and The Nature Conservancy there are ten strategies land managers can do to increase viability and promote resilience.