Coastal Wetland near Cedar Key National Wildlife Refuge

A coastal wetland near Cedar Key National Wildlife Refuge (Florida) that contains a mixture of salt marsh grasses and mangrove trees. This location is near the northern range limit of mangrove forests in Florida. Thus, freeze events in the past have prevented mangrove forests from outcompeting the salt marsh plants. In the absence of freeze events, mangrove forests would dominate this wetland. The last major freeze event in this area occurred in December 1989, and mangroves have been expanding since then. The forests in the background are dominated by the black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) — the most freeze-tolerant mangrove species in North America.