In Florida, ‘Powerful Little Plants' That Protect From Big Storms

New York Times

3 days ago

A curious trend is underway in Southwest Florida. Young red mangroves trees, some with nicknames like Rosie, Penelope and Dingle, are being adopted and raised in backyard gardens, at restaurant host stands, beside bank teller windows and in school classrooms throughout Sanibel Island and the Fort Myers area.
Their purpose is an existential one for the state: to help buffer the fragile coastline from rising seas and increasingly ferocious storms.
Mangroves, evolutionary marvels that can grow in coastal saltwater, are critical to life in Florida. They provide essential habitat for fish and wading birds, improve water quality and pull carbon from the atmosphere.
They also stabilize shorelines from erosion and can reduce property damage during storms, which is of growing importance as climate change intensifies hurricanes.
Last month, volunteers on Sanibel Island planted 500 red mangrove seedlings that had been nurtured by local residents over months, to help the community recover from recent storms.
'These are powerful little plants,' said Julie Weaver, a volunteer who lives on Sanibel Island near Clam Bayou where the planting took place.
The empty shoreline where volunteers worked in May was previously a thick mangrove wetland, before Hurricane Ian devastated the Fort Myers area in 2022.
The trees were wiped out by the storm, Florida's deadliest in decades. More hurricanes, like Milton and Helene in 2024, followed, worsening the damage and slowing recovery. Some of the volunteers planting seedlings at Clam Bayou were residents whose homes were damaged.
Some mangroves on the island snapped like toothpicks, but still provided a buffer, said Dana Dettmar, an environmental biologist with the City of Sanibel. 'Even though the aboveground portion of the tree was gone, all the root systems were still intact,' she said. 'And so in that area it held our beach.'
Mangroves can rebound naturally from storm damage. But the process is slow, especially when surviving trees are stressed and might not propagate. Planting as many sturdy seedlings as possible increases the odds of faster recovery, because not all of them will reach maturity.
'It's a numbers game when it comes to mangroves,' said Kealy Pfau, who leads volunteer programs for the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation.
The foundation's Adopt-a-Mangrove program enlists volunteer 'mangrove mamas' and "propagule papas' to grow seedlings at their homes, schools and workplaces. This increases how many seedlings they have to plant, while also educating the community on the local importance of mangroves.
The process starts in the summer when healthy red mangroves drop propagules, which look like green beans.
Potted propagules cared for by Susan Lloyd, a volunteer.
Photo by Susan Lloyd
The propagules grow into seedlings and are collected, potted and put up for adoption in the community. In the spring, seedlings that are sturdy enough are returned and planted at restoration sites.
Cheryl Day, a volunteer, described it as 'giving nature a good jumpstart.' This was her third year as a 'mangrove mama.' She has raised about 200 seedlings in the lush garden of her Fort Myers home.
'I'm a plant freak, so this is something I couldn't help but do,' Ms. Day said.
Cassie Hill helped to care for a seedling at the Sanibel Recreation Center with children in the center's after-school program.
Daniel Billheimer adopted a mangrove the day he reopened his restaurant, The Lighthouse Cafe of Sanibel Island, in a new space.Hurricane Ian tore through the original building his family had operated for decades. He also lost his home in the storm. Neighbors rallied around him as he worked to reopen.
He said caring for the seedling felt like a 'civic responsibility.'
'It's important for me to give back to the community that gave so much,' Mr. Billheimer said.
Before Hurricane Ian, restoration focused on pockets of mangroves needing a boost. After the storm, many areas needed restoration. But with that need, the number of people wanting to participate also grew.'When we started to see some of those areas slowly start to come back with some green leaves, it was such a symbol of resilience that I think the community needed to see,' Ms. Pfau said.
When Adopt-a-Mangrove started in 2020, 400 seedings were adopted. This past year, she said more than 1,000 were distributed across Lee County.
Some volunteers named their seedlings and decorated their pots.
Almost 70 percent of Sanibel, a barrier island, is protected as conservation land. Joel Caouette, an environmental biologist with the City of Sanibel, said the city looked for 'nature-based' solutions for living with storms, and had often partnered with the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation on the mangrove plantings, including this one at Clam Bayou.
'There's nothing we can do to stop the storm surge,' he said. 'So it's more about learning how to live and building a resilient landscape.'
Another planting site at Woodring Road on Sanibel Island.
At Clam Bayou, the Adopt-a-Mangrove seedlings were planted alongside about 1,000 more donated by two Florida companies that grow mangroves for restoration.They'll need five to 10 years before they reach maturity and start reproducing. In 10 to 15 years, the trees could reach more than 10 feet tall.
Scientists with S.C.C.F. will keep tabs on their growth and survival. Eric Milbrandt, a biologist and researcher with the organization, said conditions at the site were promising for many to make it. But anything could happen to them, he said, like future storms or 'being eaten by a rabbit.'
Grace Pabalan, 16, said she planned to start an Adopt-a-Mangrove club at her Fort Myers school as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award project.
'It's really important that we get involved with our community and help protect the mangroves because they're protecting us,' Ms. Pabalan said.