Ecoregions of Texas

Houston Museum of Natural Science

ExxonMobil Teacher Tuesdays

What is an ecoregion?

• A relatively large unit of land or water that is characterized by a distinctive climate, ecological features and plant and animal communities (Source: National Geographic’s Strange Days on Planet Earth

Regions of Texas

• 1 – High and Rolling Plains• 2 – Oak Woods and Prairies

and Blackland Prairies • 3 – Pineywoods• 4 – Gulf Coast Prairies and

Marshes and Coastal Sand Plains

• 5 - South Texas Brush Country• 6 –Edward’s Plateau and

Llano Uplift• 7 – Trans Pecos

High and Rolling Plains

• Mostly flat and grassy • Mostly treeless• On a high, flat plateau• The eastern portion is not

as flat and is brushy• Western and Eastern

portions is divided by deep canyons carved by rivers

• Average regional rainfall 15-28 inches a year

Wildlife• Roadrunner• Swift fox• Badger• Great horned owl• Burrowing owl• Pronghorn Antelope• Plains hognose snake• Prairie dog• Western diamondback rattlesnake • Swainson’s hawk• Black footed ferret *• Pal Duro mouse *• Texas kangaroo rat *• Concho water snake *

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

• The western diamondback rattlesnake is the most widespread venomous snake in the state of Texas

• Although its' venom is quite potent few deaths are reported

• Because of their value as rodent destroyers, rattlesnakes should not be killed

Black Footed Ferret

• Ferrets rely on prairie dogs for food and shelter.

• Predators such as owls, eagles, hawks, Coyotes, badgers, foxes, and Bobcats are the main cause of death for wild ferrets.

• Black-footed Ferrets are endangered because much of the shortgrass prairie habitat on which the ferrets depend has been plowed for crops

Concho Water Snake

• The Concho water snake is a small snake that grows up to 3 feet in length. It has large dark reddish brown bands covering its body.

• Habitat loss has been the reason for the snake's decline

• The snakes have colonized artificial riffles that have been built to offset loss of natural habitat.

Swift Fox

• The Swift Fox is about the size of a house cat and is the smallest of the American foxes

• Swift Foxes are not very suspicious of humans, so that they are easily trapped or poisoned

• Swift Foxes typically live in the open desert or grasslands

Oak Woods & Prairies and Blackland Prairies

• Transition between plains of the West Texas Panhandle and the Pineywoods of East Texas

• Patches of woodland running in a north/south direction sprinkled throughout a grassland prairie

• Gently rolling to hilly• Rich, fertile and black soil• Average regional rainfall

– 26-40 inches per year

Wildlife

• Plains pocket gopher• Raccoon• Hispid cotton rat• Green winged teal• Red shouldered hawk• White-tailed deer• Texas horned lizard• Ornate box turtle• Brazilian free-tailed bat• Nine banded armadillo• Houston toad *• Texas kangaroo rat *

Green Winged Teal - Drake

• migrate through Northcentral Texas

• Ducks feed in shallow water on aquatic vegetation, seeds and crustaceans in ponds and lakes

• Popular bird for duck hunters

Red shouldered hawk• Red-shouldered hawks are

medium-sized raptors with sharp eyes, broad strong wings and long legs

• Effective hunters, helping to maintain a balance of predators and prey in woodland and grassland areas • Red-shouldered hawks

prefer moist woodlands, such a bottomland hardwood forests or deciduous or mixed forests bordering lakes, streams or other wetlands.

• habitat loss remains the biggest threat to red-shouldered hawks

Texas horned lizard

• AKA - Horny Toad• They can be found in arid and

semiarid habitats in open areas with sparse plant cover

• Texas horned lizards range from the south-central United States to northern Mexico, throughout much of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and New Mexico

• The Texas horned lizard currently is listed as a threatened species in Texas (federal category C2).

Houston toad

• Endangered, Listed 10/13/1970

• The Houston toad lives primarily on land. The toads burrow into the sand for protection from cold weather in the winter (hibernation) and hot, dry conditions in the summer (aestivation).

• Land owners are being taught “toad friendly” practices

Pineywoods

• Primarily thick pine forest• Larger forest extents into

Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma

• Rolling terrain with wet bottomlands

• Swamps are common especially in the “Big Thicket”

• Average regional rainfall 40-52 inches per year

Wildlife

• Southern short-tailed shrew• Rafinesque’s big-eared bat• Common gray fox• Bobcat• Eastern flying squirrel• Eastern cottontail• Bull frog• River otter• Red-cockaded woodpecker *• Bald Eagle (breeding) *

Common gray fox

• Gray foxes range throughout Texas, overlapping their more familiar red cousins in the eastern and central parts of the state and into the panhandle

• Unlike any of its relatives they gray fox can climb trees

• With its legendary cleverness and adaptability, the gray fox is a highly successful species

Eastern flying squirrel

• common in the eastern part of the state, it is nocturnal (active at night) and seldom seen during the day

• the flying squirrel is quite timid and, if cornered, may become paralyzed with fear and die of shock

• it cannot fly; however, it does glide

• it may cover as much as 150 feet during a single glide

• Adult weigh about 3 ounces

Bobcat

• The Bobcat is a medium-sized, reddish brown or grayish cat

• Their diet consists mainly of small mammals and birds

• Bobcats live in a variety of habitats, but they favor rocky canyons or outcrops when they are available

• Not threatened

Bald Eagle• Listed as threatened in Texas• They feed primarily on fish, but

also eat a variety of waterfowl and other birds, small mammals, and turtles

• In Texas, Bald Eagles nest from October to July

• Nests are often very large, measuring up to 6 feet in width and weighing hundreds of pounds

• Breeding populations occur primarily in the eastern half of the state and along coastal counties from Rockport to Houston

• Non-breeding or wintering populations are located primarily in the Panhandle, Central, and East Texas,

Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes and Coastal Sand Plains

• Marshes• Barrier islands• Estuaries (salt and fresh

water meet)• Bays• Prairies and grasslands

as you travel west• Houston is a part of this

ecoreigon • Average regional rainfall

40-60 inches per year

Wildlife

• Muskrat• River otter• Alligator• Bull frog• Terns• Coyote• Mink• Bottlenose dolphin• Gulls• Attwater’s prairie chicken *• Eastern brown pelican *• Whooping crane *• Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle *

Muskrat

• A large, brownish, aquatic, scaly-tailed rodent

• Occurs only in suitable aquatic habitats in northern, southeastern, and southwestern parts of the state

• principally marsh inhabitants; creeks, rivers, lakes, drainage ditches, and canals

• Muskrats were, at one time, the most economically important furbearing mammal in eastern Texas

Alligator• Alligators are not an endangered

species. They were taken off the endangered species list in 1978

• They are protected• In Texas, the alligator ranges from

the Sabine River of East Texas• to the Gulf of Mexico and across

the coastal marshes to the Rio• Grande• With the human population in

Texas continuing to expand, increased contact between people and alligators can be expected

• No human fatality attributed to alligators has been recorded in Texas

Coyote

• The Coyote is very similar in size to a small German Shepherd

• Coyotes will eat just about anything

• The adaptability of the Coyote and its acute sense of survival make it difficult to identify preferred habitat, although they most typically are associated with open plains in the West and brushy areas in the East

• They have slowly filled the void left by the declining population of wolves

Attwater’s prairie chicken• AKA - Greater Prairie Chicken

• Endangered• Attwater's prairie chickens

are found only on the coastal prairies of Texas.

• Prairie chickens are endangered because the tallgrass prairie has been plowed for farmland and covered by cities

• Habitat has also been lost because of heavy grazing by cattle • By 1996, only 42 of these

rare birds were left.

Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle

South Texas Brush Country

• Runs from edges of the Hill Country into the subtropical regions of the Lower Rio Grande Valley

• Mostly dry and covered with grasses and thorny brush such as mesquite and prickly pear cacti

• Average regional rainfall 20-32 inches per year

Wildlife

• Ferruginous pygmy owl

• Elf owl• Indigo snake• Mexican burrowing

toad• Texas tortoise• Ocelot *

Ferruginous pygmy owl

• essentially a Mexican species that barely enters the U.S. in far south Texas and sometimes in Arizona

• This species is much sought after by U.S. birders

• In Texas it is now mostly confined to remaining patches of mesquite, ebony, and cane along the lower Rio Grande

• Endangered in Arizona and rare in Texas. It is still quite common in Mexico

Texas tortoise

• They feed heavily on the fruit of the common prickly pear and on other mostly succulent plants available to them

• A low reproductive rate, historic heavy exploitation by pet suppliers, and other factors have led to a severe population decline of the species

• It is a protected nongame (threatened) species

Indigo snake

• North Americas largest non-venomous snake

• These snakes can grow up to 9 feet and eat the toughest rattlesnakes for breakfast

• It is found in scattered locations across South Texas and in a few locations in the Texas hill country and even few places in south west Texas.

Edward’s Plateau and Llano Uplift

• High flat land (plateau) eroded into hilly terrain

• Many springs and steep canyons

• Underground lakes in the Edward’s Aquifer area

• Caves• Average regional rainfall

15-34 inches per year

Wildlife

• Rio Grande turkey• Javelina • Tarantula• Grebes• Brazilian free-tail bat• Salamander• Gulf Coast toads• Blue heron• Golden-cheeked warbler

*

Rio Grande turkey

• Rio Grande turkey are distributed throughout the central portion of Texas from the northern high plains to the southern gulf coastal prairies

• Popular game bird for hunters

• Doing well thanks to hunters

Brazilian free-tailed bats• widely regarded as one of the

most abundant mammals in North America

• However, its proclivity towards roosting in large numbers in relatively few roosts makes it especially vulnerable to human disturbance and habitat destruction

• This bat is a known carrier of rabies. Although the proportion of rabies cases caused by Brazilian Free-tailed Bats is minuscule when compared to the size of their population as a whole, caution should be exercised when one of these bats is encountered, or any species of bat for that matter

Golden-cheeked warbler• Endangered

• Golden-cheeked warblers nest only in central Texas mixed Ashe-juniper and oak woodlands in ravines and canyons

• They come to Texas in March to nest and raise their young

• In Texas, golden-cheeked warblers are found in the Edwards Plateau and locally north to Palo Pinto County

• Golden-cheeked warblers are endangered because many tall juniper and oak woodlands have been cleared to build houses, roads, and stores. Some habitat was cleared to grow crops or grass for livestock. Other habitat areas were flooded when large lakes were built.

•

Trans Pecos

• Region of extremes• Home of Big Bend• Hot dry desert that is cool

at night• Mountains – occasionally

snows in winter• Forests grow on slopes• Rio Grande River runs

through forming a border between Texas and Mexico

• Average regional rainfall 8-20 inches per year

Wildlife

• Pronghorn antelope• Hooded skunk• Cactus mouse• Western diamondback

rattlesnake• Desert bighorn sheep• Mountain lion• Collared lizard• Black bear *• Mexican spotted owl *

Pronghorn antelope

• Pronghorns live primarily in grasslands but also in brushland and deserts. In Texas the antelope live primarily in the North and West Texas areas. They eat cacti, grasses, forbs, and browse plants.

• Its speed is surpassed only by that of the cheetah

Mountain lion

• The Mountain Lion is a large, slender cat with a smallish head and noticeably long tail

• Are also called cougars• Mountain Lions are

relatively uncommon, secretive animals

• In Texas, the Mountain Lion is found throughout the Trans-Pecos, as well as the brushlands of south Texas and portions of the Hill Country

Cactus mouse

• Trans-Pecos Texas, mainly in lowland desert areas, westward along the Rio Grande to Webb County

• Restricted almost entirely to a desert habitat, especially where rocky outcrops or cliffs offer retreats and den sites

• In captivity, they relish water but in the wild they probably supply this need by feeding on succulent vegetation since they occur in areas that are waterless except for infrequent rains

Desert bighorn sheep

• Texas has seven herds of free-ranging desert bighorn sheep, the result of restocking efforts begun in 1954 and continuing to the present time

• 2008 Observed Population: 1,193 Sheep