Gentler summer waves shift the sand from sandbars back onto the beaches. An important type of upland habitat, this community contains dense thickets of saw palmettos, sand live oaks, cabbage palms, Spanish bayonet, Florida rosemary, and other plants. Coastal strand also supports numerous animals, including gopher tortoises and beach mice, many of which are rare or endangered. It is one of the state's most endangered and rapidly vanishing communities because it is ideal for development, and because exotic species have invaded some remaining areas. While coastal strand once formed an almost continuous band along Florida's east coast, now only a few, isolated stretches remain.
Maritime forests are hardwood forests that lie just inland from coastal strands.
They are essentially older dunes that have been stable long enough for a forest to grow. Their thick, wind-pruned canopies of live oaks, cabbage palms, and red bays shelter smaller plants such as wild coffee, coontie palms, coral bean, and various ferns. Many animals live in maritime forests, including squirrel tree frogs, gray squirrels, and migrating birds. Because their locations just inland from the sea and their well-drained soils are ideal for development, however, this community is also rapidly vanishing. Often covered with maritime forest vegetation, shell mounds or middens are an especially interesting feature along Florida's coasts.