As another consequence of climate change, slightly higher temperatures which are preventing cold snaps (less than 25 degrees) in parts of Florida have enabled Mangroves to move northward and thrive. Typically colder nights constrains and limit cold sensitive plants migration, by killing plants and seeds, but the difference of a degree or two, is enough to shift the balance to favor a particular species.
Using LANDSAT images from the mid 1980's through 2011, scientists reviewed changes found in 24,000 acres of coastal land capable of supporting either salt marsh or mangrove forest. In this period, mangroves expanded into 4,200 acres, essentially doubling its presence, and in many cases displacing salt marsh. The black Mangrove, considered the most cold tolerant, was found to have expanded the most at the northern fringe of the study area between Cocoa Beach and St. Augustine.
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