Every inch of height makes a difference in this part of the world. A scourge of the island is Brazilian pepper, a non-native plant that takes over areas huge areas and will eliminate the wetlands if not dealt with. The water level and frequent fires are the natural obstacles to the dominance of this foreign plant. They did a test once during a drought. A region populated by the pepper was flooded to a level of 36 inches.
Fire is also important because all of the local plants are highly resistant to fire.
Palm trees, for example, have their vascular system in the center of the plant unlike hardwoods. The nature center schedules frequent burns. The native Americans would grind it up and put it in a pond, killing the fish. The dead fish would rise to the surface where they could be easily collected. We climbed an observation tower and spotted an egret.