NORTH PALM BEACH — John D. MacArthur Beach State Park has 144 acres of mangrove swamp along Lake Worth Cove and the Intracoastal Waterway. Until relatively recently, mangroves were among the most underappreciated trees in Florida, regularly hacked down without thought to make room for development, to "improve" the scenery and to open up sight lines, etc., sometimes replaced by invasive Australian pines that were seen as a superior species. Then someone figured out that the three species of mangroves (red, black and white) play a vital role in protecting the shoreline from erosion, particulary during tropical storms and hurricanes. The arching roots of red mangroves and the pneumatophores of black mangroves create a protective nursery of sorts for the young of fish, shrimp, crabs and other marine creatures. Their canopy provides nesting sites for birds.
NEXT STOP: LAKE WORTH COVE
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NEXT STOP: LAKE WORTH COVE
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