Stepping Out

A tunnel formed by red mangroves provides a channel that is likely used by alligators and perhaps an occasional endangered American crocodile. South Florida is the species’ last redoubt in this country. Photo: Diane Cook & Len Jenshel

Below the surface, the tangle of red mangrove roots functions as a protective nursery for scores of juvenile fish species, from Goliath groupers to barracudas, as well as a platform of oysters and other shellfish. Photo: Diane Cook & Len Jenshel

Photo: Diane Cook & Len Jenshel

Black mangroves have pneumatophores—“air carrier” in Greek—with an upward-growing root that functions like a snorkel to supply oxygen to the tree in anaerobic soils and at high tide. Photo: Diane Cook & Len Jenshel

Mangroves. Photo: Diane Cook & Len Jenshel

Mangroves. Photo: Diane Cook & Len Jenshel

Mangroves. Photo: Diane Cook & Len Jenshel

Mangroves. Photo: Diane Cook & Len Jenshel

Mangroves. Photo: Diane Cook & Len Jenshel

Mangroves. Photo: Diane Cook & Len Jenshel

Epiphytes such as bromeliads and orchids flourish on the prop and aerial roots of red mangroves. Just a few inches of elevation define the range between red mangroves, which stand in salt or brackish water, and black mangroves, which flourish on slightly higher, drier ground. Photo: Diane Cook & Len Jenshel

A red mangrove in the foreground shows off its prop roots. In the distance, one lone mangrove begins to get established on an oyster bar. Within a decade, the bar will likely be covered by an extensive stand of red mangroves. Photo: Diane Cook & Len Jenshel

Related Features

A New Documentary About a Hummingbird Rehabber Peeks At Life on a Different Scale

A person looks up at a hummingbird perched on a wire in a mesh enclosure.

A New Documentary About a Hummingbird Rehabber Peeks At Life on a Different Scale

News

Where Do Hummingbirds Go in the Winter?

Where Do Hummingbirds Go in the Winter?

News

Our Favorite Fascinating Bird Behaviors From the 2024 Audubon Photo Awards

Our Favorite Fascinating Bird Behaviors From the 2024 Audubon Photo Awards

Audubon Photography Awards

Titmice Galore and a Red-tailed Record: Tallying Central Park's 125th Christmas Bird Count

A group of people with winter coats and binoculars in an urban park, looking up.

Titmice Galore and a Red-tailed Record: Tallying Central Park's 125th Christmas Bird Count

News

Explore More Photography

Beach Birds

Black Skimmer

Beach Birds

Slideshow

Midway: Message from the Gyre

Midway: Message from the Gyre

Climate Change Hits Home

Climate Change Hits Home

6 Award-Winning Aerials

6 Award-Winning Aerials

News

Get Audubon in Your Inbox

Let us send you the latest in bird and conservation news.