Some reef fish species range widely over seagrass beds for feeding and find shelter as juveniles in mangrove swamps.
Reefs protect mangroves from wave action and mangroves, in turn, protect corals from siltation.
NPS is a world leader in the parks and preservation community, an environmental advocate, and a pioneer in the drive to protect America's open space. NPS achieves these goals by working cooperatively with Federal, State, and local agencies, Native American authorities, user groups, adjacent landowners, and others in the management of natural resources. The largest single NPS unit with coral reefs, Biscayne National Park in south Florida, has a marine area of more than 168,000 acres. The park was established in 1968 to protect and preserve a nationally significant marine ecosystem of mangrove shorelines, a shallow bay, undeveloped islands, and coral reefs. As a world leader in the establishment and management of underwater parks, NPS has long been involved in the development of new and improved coral reef monitoring and management protocols.