Our Ecosystems

South Texas EcoTourism Center - Building

There are Five major Ecosystems native to South Texas. At our Center you can experience them all! 

 

Coastal Prairie

Lomas

Thorn Forest

Savanna

Cultivated Plants (Agricultural &Beneficial)

EXPERIENCING, RESTORING and PRESERVING the NATIVE LANDSCAPE

 

Cultivated Plants

(Agricultural and Beneficial)

The Cultivated Plant unit consists of Agricultural and Beneficial, Culturally and Historically significant, plants as well as those that have contributed to industry in the Rio Grande Valley.

 

Thorn Forest

A landscape of tall stans of thorny trees and shrubs is so dense that some areas are impenetrable. Scattered below are grasses, flowers, and vines. The combination of the soils, plants, climate, and location near the Rio Grande, provide food, shelter, and protection for rare mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, and more common wildlife.  

 

Savanna

Located inland from the Gulf Coast and banks of the Rio Grande, the Savanna Ecosystem includes sandy soils covered by shrubs, grasses, and wildflowers, with scattered trees and tall shrubs.

Lomas

The Lomas Ecosystem formed when windblown fine clay sediment fell onto tidal flats and banks of former river channels, creating clay dunes aka Lomas. Plants and animals in their ecosystem are adapted to tidal fluctuations and salt spray. Its elevated dunes form natural levees, densely covered with thorny shrubs, mesquite, cacti, scattered trees, and grasslands along the margins of the dunes.

 

Coastal Prairie

Located near the Gulf of Mexico, the Coastal Prairie topography is flat to gently rolling dunes. Its clay soil is saline and slow to drain. After a rainfall or storm surge the they can be covered with water for some time. Grasses, shrubs, and flowers in the ecosystem must survive in the salty clay soils and standing water.