The mangrove habitat is one of the state's most diverse and unique natural areas. While the most luxuriant mangrove forests grow in extreme south Florida, the trees survive from Tampa south along the west coast and from Cape Canaveral south along the east coast.
Tidal mud flats, sandbars, and oyster bars also commonly occur with mangroves.
The Ten Thousand Islands of the lower southwest coast and the Florida Bay region of Everglades National Park have the largest mangrove forests. Here trees may grow to 60 feet high. Flushed by the daily tide mangrove are among the most productive habitat in the world, far more so than most forms of modern agriculture. Mangroves flourish in the salt-water environment although scientific evidence shows that mangroves do not require salt water to survive. They will grow in freshwater but apparently do not do well because they cannot compete with the plant species that typically grow there.