Western Gulf coastal grasslands
| Western Gulf coastal grasslands | |
|---|---|
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| Ecology | |
| Realm | Nearctic |
| Biome | Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands |
| Bird species | 335 |
| Mammal species | 75 |
| Geography | |
| Area | 77,425 km2 (29,894 sq mi) |
| Countries | United States and Mexico |
| States | Louisiana, Tamaulipas and Texas |
| Conservation | |
| Habitat loss | 48.734% |
| Protected | 10.31% |
The Western Gulf coastal grasslands are a subtropical grassland ecoregion of the southern United States and northeastern Mexico. It is known in Texas as "Coastal Prairie" and as the Tamaulipan pastizal in Mexico.
The ecoregion covers an area of 77,425 km2 (29,894 sq mi), extending along the shore of the Gulf of Mexico from southeastern Louisiana (west of the Mississippi Delta) through Texas and into the Mexican state of Tamaulipas as far as the Laguna Madre. Specific areas include a number of barrier islands, and the resacas or natural levees of the Laguna Madre. The coast is vulnerable to tropical storms that can seriously damage habitats.
This ecosystem is edaphic in origin; the soils in this region are of a heavy clay that contributed to difficulty for woody species to establish, allowing grasses and herbaceous species to be more competitive.The region name, though, is a bit of a misnomer. It is not a wide open, treeless prairie; instead, the grassy areas are broken up by many pockets/groves of forest, usually along water courses, or isolated silt/sand pockets among the substrate (where the soil is more permissive for tree growth).
The natural habitat of the area is a mix of tallgrass prairie similar to those found in inland Texas, with Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) the primary tallgrass species that are typical of the coastal prairie, with several other shorter grasses and many herbaceous and woody species. The southern third of the Texas stretch and all of the Tamaulipan portion contains shrubby areas of honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa), huisache (Vachellia farnesiana var. farnesiana), lime prickly-ash (Zanthoxylum fagara), and Texas persimmon (Diospyros texana).
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Wikipedia