State 1
Salt Marsh

These are largely herbaceous communities that occurs in the portion of the coastal zone affected by tides and seawater and protected from large waves, either by the broad, gently sloping topography of the shore, by a barrier island, or by location along a bay or estuary. Salt marsh may have distinct zones of vegetation, each dominated by a single species of grass or rush. More halophytic species dominates the seaward edge and borders of tidal creeks, areas most frequently inundated by the tides. The landward edge of the marsh is influenced by freshwater influx from the uplands and may be colonized by a mixture of high marsh and inland species. A border of salt-tolerant shrubs often marks the transition to upland vegetation or low berms along the seaward marsh edge. The following communities are mentioned separately due to their slight differences in different landscape positions. These often grade into one another but many times can not transition to one another.

Characteristics and indicators. These are characteristic of grasses and herbaceous species directly adjacent to a saline or brackish body of water with large layers of undecayed organic material.

Community 1.1
Intertidal Marshes

Figure 9. Intertidal marsh that is influenced by periodic tides.

This community is found in the lowest elevation zone consisting primarily of halophytic species of herbs and grasses. This zone is flooded by daily tidal fluctuations.

Community 1.2
Salt Pans

Figure 10. Salt pan dominated by halophytic species.

Figure 11. Glasswort spp.

Also known as salt flats, these are bare, exposed, or water-filled depressions in a salt marsh, often covered by thin layers of blue-green algae. These have high salinity levels which prevent most vascular vegetation growth, allowing only a few species of halophytes to survive. These form in high marshes where where evaporation concentrates large amounts of salts in the substrate or in depressions of the intertidal zone and retain water even during low tide.

Community 1.3
Grass salt marsh / High Marsh

This community is situated on slightly higher elevations and is flooded primarily by spring or storm tides. It is often influenced by freshwater influx from the uplands and may be colonized by a mixture of salt marsh and upland species.

Community 1.4
Buttonwood Transitional Zone

This zone occurs at the highest elevation within a salt marsh an is flooded primarily during storm tides. This is the transitional zone towards a more terrestrial community. It is dominated by buttonwood canopy and established dense cover of halophytes and grasses in the understory.

State 2
Mangrove Swamps

Figure 12. Prop roots of red mangrove tree.

Figure 13. Pneumatophores of black mangrove tree.

These are dense forests occurring along relatively flat, low-wave energy, marine and estuarine shorelines. These species are dominated by mangroves, and often found in mixed stands or in differentiated, monospecific zones that reflect differences in tidal influence, salinity, and / or type of substrate. The following communities are mentioned separately due to their slight differences in different landscape positions. These often grade into one another but many times can not transition to one another.

Community 2.1
Overwash Mangrove Islands

Figure 14. Overwash mangrove island at low tide building on unconciliated substrates.

Overwash Islands are small islands and narrow extensions of larger and masses (spits) that are “overwashed” on a daily basis during high tide and have high rates of organic export. These islands often develop as concentric rings of tall mangroves around smaller mangroves and a permanent, usually hypersaline, pools of water. All species of mangroves may be present, but red mangroves usually dominate. Maximum height of the mangroves is about 7 m (23 feet). These communities are particularly sensitive to the effects of ocean pollution.

Community 2.2
Fringe Mangrove Forest

Fringe mangrove forests are found along protected shorelines, on narrow berms along the coastline or in wide expanses along gently sloping beaches, along some canals, rivers, and lagoons. If a berm is present, the mangroves may be isolated from freshwater runoff and then have to depend completely on rainfall, the sea, and groundwater for their nutrient supply. These forests are best defined along shorelines whose elevations are higher than mean high tide. Maximum height of the mangroves is about 10 m (32 feet).

Community 2.3
Riverine Mangrove Forest

Figure 15. Mangroves growing on the border of a tidally influenced river.

Tall, productive riverine mangrove forests are found along the edges of coastal rivers and creeks, often several miles inland from the coast. These wetlands may be dry for a considerable time, although the water table is generally just below the surface. They are affected by freshwater runoff from adjacent uplands and from water, sediments, and nutrients delivered by the adjacent river. They can be significantly affected by upstream activity or stream alteration. The combination of adequate fresh water and high inputs of nutrients from both upland and estuarine sources cause these systems to be generally very productive, supporting large (16- 26 m) mangrove trees. Salinity in this community is usually lower than the other mangrove communities. The flushing of freshwater during wet seasons causes salts to be leached from the sediments.

Community 2.4
Basin Mangrove Forest

Basin mangrove forests occur in inland depressions, or basins, often behind fringe mangrove forests and in drainage depressions where water is stagnant or slowly flowing. These forests are often isolated from all but the highest tides and yet remain flooded for long periods once tide water does flood them. These forests are often dominated by black mangroves and white mangroves and the ground surface is often covered by pneumatophores from these trees. Trees may reach 15 m (49 feet) in height.

Community 2.5
Hammock Mangrove Forest

These forests occur as isolated, slightly raised tree islands in the coastal fringe of the Florida Everglades and have characteristics of both basin and scrub mangroves. They are slightly raised as a result of the buildup of peat in what was once a slight depression in the landscape. The peat has accumulated from many years of mangrove productivity, actually raising the surface from 5 to 10 cm above the surrounding landscape. All species of mangroves may be present, trees rarely exceed 5 m (16 feet) in height.

Community 2.6
Scrub / Dwarf Mangrove Forest

Scrub or dwarf mangrove forests are dominated by scattered, small (often less than 2 m tall) mangrove trees growing in an environment that is probably nutrient poor. These nutrient poor environments can be on a sandy soil or limestone marl. Hypersaline conditions and cold at the norther extremes of the mangrove’s ranges can produce “scrub”, or stressed mangrove trees, in riverine, fringe, or basin mangrove forests. Some of these forests are inundated by seawater only during spring tides or storm surges and are often flooded by freshwater runoff in the rainy season. These are an intermix of small red mangrove trees with marsh vegetation such as sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense) and rush (Juncus roemarianus).

Community 2.7
Buttonwood Forest

Button mangrove forests are dominated by button mangrove and often exist in the upper tidal areas, especially where mangrove swamps transition to rockland hammock. They can be open prairie like communities with button mangrove scattered in the overstory and an understory dominated by saltwater tolerant perennials.

State 3
Invasive Non-Native Community

This state consists of Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Non-Native Category 1 Species list . More information on these species list can be found:

https://www.fdacs.gov/content/download/63140/file/Florida%E2%80%99s_Pest_Plants.pdf

or by contacting the UF / IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants (http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/),

the UF / IFAS Assessment of Non-native Plants in Florida's Natural Areas (https://assessment.ifas.ufl.edu/),

or the FWC Invasive Plant Management Section (http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/invasive-plants/).

This community will not represent every possibility of invasive species but rather the most common in these areas.

Characteristics and indicators. Non-native species include species that exist outside of Florida's native range and introduced to the state by people, weather, or any other means.

Resilience management. This state can be found as a part of any other state and can completely destroy the native habitat if not properly managed. Restoration to natural communities after exotic invasion include practices such as mechanical, biological, and chemical removal.

State 4
Human Altered and Human Transported Areas

These areas include soils that were intentionally and substantially modified by humans for an intended purpose, commonly for terraced agriculture, building support, mining, transportation, and commerce. The alteration is of sufficient magnitude to result in the introduction of a new parent material (human-transported material) or a profound change in the previously existing parent material (human-altered material). They do not include soils modified through standard agricultural practices or formed soils with unintended wind and water erosion. When a soil is on or above an anthropogenic landform or microfeature, it can be definitely be associated with human activity and is assigned to a unique taxa, usually found as an "Urban land complex" within that communities' natural soil properties (e.g., Keylargo muck, tidal-Urban land complex, 0-1% slopes).

Characteristics and indicators. Evidence of these areas include soils with manufactured items (e.g. artifacts) present in the profile, human altered-materials (e.g., deeply excavated or deeply plowed soil) or human-transported material (e.g., fill), and position on or above anthropogenic landforms (e.g., flood-control levees) and microfeatures (e.g., drainage ditches). Detailed criteria regarding the identification of anthropogenic (artificial) landforms, human-altered materials, and human-transported material are in the "Keys to Soil Taxonomy" (Soil Survey Staff, 2014).

Community 4.1
Reclaimed Area

Reclaimed areas are areas that have been modified through anthropogenic means that are restored to a natural or second-hand natural community. Areas that can be reclaimed are any intensity urban areas, and may be required to be reclaimed after urban use (e.g., constructed shorelines that have been reclaimed to native habitat). These practices include the identification, removal, and stockpiling soil materials before altering the land, and revegetation and replacement of soil materials after altering the land. This also applies to nearby urban areas that have been adversely affected by the anthropogenic activities.

Community 4.2
Urban

This urban community consists of development for human use. Urban areas include a variety of land uses, e.g., inner city or urban core, industrial and residential areas, cemeteries, parks, and other open spaces; the overall function which may benefit the quality of human life. These often form an urban soil mosaic, where the natural landscape has been fragmented into parcels with distinctive disturbance and management regimes and, as a result, distinctive characteristic soil properties.

Within this community there are three different levels of urbanization, based off population dynamics, residential density, and intensity of development. These are labeled as low-intensity, medium-intensity, and high-intensity urban areas, which can eventually be split apart into its own separate state. Low-intensity urban areas may consist of single dwelling homes with little impact on the surrounding community which still somewhat represents the natural community (e.g., represents natural landscape, hydrology, and vegetation) , other examples of this are urban parks, cemeteries, or campgrounds with little urban development. Medium-intensity urban areas consist of larger urban dwellings with some natural features, but have been modified to meet urban needs (e.g., towns). High-intensity urban areas are areas of heavily modified areas with complete alterations of the natural landscape, hydrology, and vegetation to support a very large population, which once constructed is permanently altered (e.g., metropolis areas/ active mines).

Pathway 4.1A
Community 4.1 to 4.2

This shift in communities is driven by clearing and developing the land for the desired community.

Pathway 4.2A
Community 4.2 to 4.1

This transition is driven by the revegetation, reestablished hydroperiods and replacement of displaced soil materials after altering the land.

State 5
Permanently Flooded Hydroperiod

This state describes the impact of increased hydroperiods from anthropogenic or natural causes that creates an altered hydrologic state resulting in permanent flooding. The impact of this causes destruction of the terrestrial community and may in time shift to a subaqueous community.

Characteristics and indicators. This state is characterized by permanent water levels in an area that was previously in an intertidal zone.

Resilience management. This is a final state and unlikely and improbable to go back to the original reference state.

Community 5.1
Ghost Forests (If wooded)

Ghost forests are the remains of a wooded vegetated community after changes in the long term hydroperiod (primarily sea level rise or artificial impoundment) permanently saturate the root system and becomes too saline for the species tolerance. They appear as standing dead wood representing where once the living vegetation stood. Evidence of previous shorelines may be found in subaqueous soil cores as root matter or a buried organic horizon.

Community 5.2
Unconsolidated Substrates

Figure 16. Unconsolidated Substrate found in intertidal zone which may have once supported vegetation.

These are expansive, relatively open areas of intertidal and supratidal zones which lack dense populations of sessile plant and animal species, Unconsolidated Substrates are unsolidified material and include marl, mud, mud/sand, sand or shell.

Unconsolidated Substrates are important in that they form the foundation for the development of other subaqueous and intertidal natural communities when conditions become appropriate. Unconsolidated Substrate communities are associated with and often grade into mangrove forests or salt marshes (herbaceous wetlands) in this ecosite. This is a highly fluctuating community and is altered by storm events, with numerous management plans that include beach reestablishment and coastal stabilization projects. Unconsolidated sediments can originate from organic sources, such as decaying plant tissues (e.g., mud) or from calcium carbonate depositions of plants or animals (e.g., coralgal, marl and shell substrates). Marl and coralgal substrates are primarily restricted to the southern portion of the state. These communities are typically seen as tidal or mud flats and have high contents of acid sulfates.

Resilience management. This is a highly fluctuating community and is altered by storm events, with numerous management plans that include coastal stabilization projects.

Community 5.3
Open Water

This is the final state and is when alteration of the natural hydroperiod has left an area permanently flooded. No terrestrial vegetation representative of the reference state will be present but may support rooted submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) species if proper growth conditions are met.

Pathway 5.1A
Community 5.1 to 5.2

This transition is driven by acid sulfate dynamics which causes a shift from a ghost forest to an area of unconsolidated substrates. This often occurs after a disturbance event creates an open area within a mangrove forest, allowing for the waterlogged soils under the forest to become exposed to air long enough for the soil to oxidize, forming sulfuric acid (pH <4.5). This will significantly alter the composition of the soil matrix and result in a highly acidic environment in which vegetation is unable to grow.

Pathway 5.1B
Community 5.1 to 5.3

This is caused by anthropogenic or natural increases in hydroperiods causing the area to be permanently flooded.

Pathway 5.2A
Community 5.2 to 5.3

This is caused by anthropogenic or natural increases in hydroperiods causing the area to be permanently flooded.

Transition T1A
State 1 to 2

This mechanism is driven by land encroachment, in which mangrove communities are able to move landward as their growth conditions change (e.g., increase salinity, decreased freshwater, sea level rise, more intense tidal flooding). Mangroves are well adapted to various salinities and are able to rapidly colonize and area.

Constraints to recovery.Shifts to mangrove communities are usually seen with changes in sea level rise, and recovery back to salt marshes are typically unseen due to the success of mangroves in more hostile saline conditions.

Transition T1B
State 1 to 3

The invasion of non-native or exotic species can be driven by a multitude of different environmental factors such as changes in natural hydroperiods or in fire regimes. Typically once a change in one of the two factors mentioned above occurs, non-native or exotic invasive species become established and begin to compete with native species for habitat and nutrients.

Constraints to recovery.Recovery from non-native or exotic invasive species may be difficult due to many adaptations which allow them to survive and outcompete in intolerable conditions. Localized knowledge for each species must be known for best removal of it without harming the native environment, and often different treatments must be applied over one given area.

Context dependence.Growth of non-native and exotic invasive species can be rapid following a change in a natural stressor such as fire frequency or natural hydroperiods which might have once kept the invasive species at bay.

Transition T1C
State 1 to 4

This transition is driven by the alteration and/ or transportation of materials via anthropogenic means.

Transition T1D
State 1 to 5

This is driven by increased hydroperiods, both anthropogenic and natural, which causes long-term flooding and permanently altering the state.

Transition T2A
State 2 to 3

The invasion of non-native or exotic species can be driven by a multitude of different environmental factors such as changes in natural hydroperiods or in fire regimes. Typically once a change in one of the two factors mentioned above occurs, non-native or exotic invasive species become established and begin to compete with native species for habitat and nutrients.

Constraints to recovery.Recovery from non-native or exotic invasive species may be difficult due to many adaptations which allow them to survive and outcompete in intolerable conditions. Localized knowledge for each species must be known for best removal of it without harming the native environment, and often different treatments must be applied over one given area.

Context dependence.Growth of non-native and exotic invasive species can be rapid following a change in a natural stressor such as fire frequency or natural hydroperiods which might have once kept the invasive species at bay.

Transition T2B
State 2 to 4

This transition is driven by the alteration and/ or transportation of materials via anthropogenic means.

Transition T2C
State 2 to 5

This is driven by increased hydroperiods, both anthropogenic and natural, which causes long-term flooding and permanently altering the state.

Restoration pathway R3A
State 3 to 1

Mechanical, biological, and chemical removal strategies include removing the non-native and exotic invasive species through various mechanisms. Localized knowledge for individual non-native or exotic invasive species is needed for specific management. Sometimes introduction of fire regimes may prevent or stop the growth of non-native or exotic invasive species, but many species are fire tolerant. Mechanical removal might include roller chopping, harvesting, or cutting and removal of invasive species. Chemical removal might include aerial dispersal from planes, or basal bark injection treatments.

Context dependence.Mechanical, biological, and chemical removal of non-native and exotic invasive species is a time dependent process, with both removal types taking long times to be considered effective.

Restoration pathway R3B
State 3 to 2

Mechanical, biological, and chemical removal strategies include removing the non-native and exotic invasive species through various mechanisms. Localized knowledge for individual non-native or exotic invasive species is needed for specific management. Sometimes introduction of fire regimes may prevent or stop the growth of non-native or exotic invasive species, but many species are fire tolerant. Mechanical removal might include roller chopping, harvesting, or cutting and removal of invasive species. Chemical removal might include aerial dispersal from planes, or basal bark injection treatments.

Context dependence.Mechanical, biological, and chemical removal of non-native and exotic invasive species is a time dependent process, with both removal types taking long times to be considered effective.

Transition T3A
State 3 to 4

This transition is driven by the alteration and/ or transportation of materials via anthropogenic means.

Transition T3B
State 3 to 5

This is driven by increased hydroperiods, both anthropogenic and natural, which causes long-term flooding and permanently altering the state.

Transition T4A
State 4 to 5

This is driven by increased hydroperiods, both anthropogenic and natural, which causes long-term flooding and permanently altering the state.