This study was conducted in the Rookery Bay National Estuarine
Research Reserve, in southwest Florida (26◦147N, 81◦4450W,
Fig. 1). The landscape of the reserve (445km2) is a mixture
of shallow embayments, tidal creeks, and mangrove forest. The
red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) is numerically dominant, with
lesser representation by both the white (Laguncularia racemosa)
and the black mangrove (Avicennia germinans). The understory of
the mangrove forests is dominated by the prop roots of R. mangle
(range 28–43 rootsm−2). The area experiences mixed semidiurnal
tides (average 1.2 m), seasonally varying salinity (range 18–39 ppt)
and water temperature (range 17–32 ◦C)