(11) Mangroves . Mangrove planting in Florida has been recent- 

 ly reviewed (Teas, 1977). These are tree species and their planting 

 requirements are similar to those of most terrestial tree species. It 

 is usually best to stabilize bare sites with salt marsh plants before 

 attempting to establish mangroves. The southern limit for the use of 

 smooth cordgrass for this purpose is not known. It probably falls just 

 north of Miami on the Atlantic coast and near Cape Romano on the gulf 

 coast. 



(a) Planting Method . Plants should be set in holes 

 large enough to accommodate the root mass, at about the same level in 

 the ground as they were growing with the edges of the hole filled and 

 firmed. This can be done best at low tide. The root ball should be 

 kept intact and care taken not to cover pneumataphores or prop roots. 



Watering is advisable at higher elevations where daily flooding 

 does not occur. Pruning definitely improves survival and early growth. 

 Black and white mangroves should have top and side branches pruned to 

 about two-thirds of their original length. Pruning of red mangroves 

 must be selective; lateral buds may not grow on branches pruned back 

 to a diameter greater than 2.5 centimeters (Pulver, 1976). 



(b) Elevation . Established red mangroves tolerate con- 

 tinuous water coverage of the substrate surface 0.5 meter deep to 

 occasional flooding a few centimeters deep. The black mangrove grows 

 slightly higher, under a few centimeters of standing water to barely 

 flooded by spring or storm tides. The white mangrove will grow with 

 the other two at about all elevations (Davis, 1940). Successful plant- 

 ings of all three species have generally been from MTL, upward. Propa- 

 gules and young plants cannot tolerate continuous flooding (Teas, 1977). 

 It may be possible to succeed at lower elevations by using older plants. 



(c) Density . It may be feasible to plant seedlings as 

 close as 0.5 meter on centers and permit natural thinning to determine 

 the final stand. With the more expensive saplings, a 2- to 3-meter 

 spacing is suggested. 



(d) Planting Date. The optimum planting season of young 

 seedlings, dug from the wild, is in late February and March. Planting 

 of larger plants can probably be done successfully throughout the year 

 if done with care. 



(e) Management . There are no data to support the use 



of fertilizers on mangrove plantings. These species respond to fertil- 

 izer in nurseries (Teas, 1977) and will probably respond to the addi- 

 tion of nitrogen and phosphorus in the field on some sites. The cost 

 of slow-release materials such as Osmocote or magnesium-ammonium-phos- 

 phate, applied in the planting hole, would be warranted if needed, for 

 the larger transplants. Fertilization should be tried wherever nutri- 

 ent limitations are suspected. Smothering by drifting debris is a 



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