The trail makes its way through the Oak Hammock to the banks of a small tributary of Alligator Creek. Turn right on the path that leads to the water by the kayaks. Alligator Creek is lined with Mangrove Swamp, as is much of the natural coastline in central and south Florida. The Mangrove Swamp, like the Salt Marsh is an essential part of the estuarine environment and is protected by law. Dense roots systems provide shoreline stablization and protection from waves and wind. They take up nutrients and pollutants and sequester carbon. They also provide shelter for young fish, crabs and shrimp. Dead mangrove leaves form a rich detritus that recycles nutrients back into the food web.
The word Mangrove originates from the Spanish word Mangle which is the word for Mangrove Swamp. The three trees that are referred to as Mangroves, the Red, White and Black Mangrove are members of different families of plants and are related only by the habitat they inhabit.
Interspersed with the Mangroves is the Coin Vine or Fishpoison Plant (Dalbergia ecastaphyllum). It is actually a spralling shrub with long branches that drape vine-like over the trees. Its leaves and bark, when crushed, contain the anesthetic rotenone and were used by Native Americans to catch fish. Coin Vine is a member of the Legume family and produces small white flowers and round flat pods containing a single seed.
Fiddler Crabs (Minuca burgersi) will probably spot you and retreat to their holes long before you spot them. If you go down near the water, you will find that the holes are surrounded by small clumps of sand and mud that are the remains of feeding activities by the crabs. The male fiddler crab has one large claw that it uses for communication and courtship. The females claws are both small. Another crab you might see here is the Mangrove Crab (Aratus pisonii). You can look for it climbing in the mangrove branches. Mangrove crabs eat the leaves making an important contribution to the formation of detritus.
