Thursday, November 8, 2012
As I have written in previous posts, four ecological regions converge in Bexar County: Edwards Plateau, Blackland Prairie, Post Oak Savanna and South Texas Plains. Each region has its own characteristics that define the region, but there usually are no clear, well defined boundaries where they converge.
When the Spanish first arrived in what is now Bexar County in the early 1700s and began to establish the Presidio and Missions on the San Antonio River, it appears that most of the area was either riparian woodland along the waterways or some type of savanna in the upland areas.
A savanna is an open grassland with scattered trees. It is a fire based ecology in that the periodic natural occurrence of wildfire is necessary to prevent woody succession from continuing to a full woodland climax.
With permanent human settlement, wildfires were redefined from being a "natural occurrence (or phenomenon)" to being a "natural disaster." Wildfires were suppressed at all cost and the open savanna eventually became woodland.
At the same time that wildfires were being suppressed, periodic flooding along the streams and rivers also destroyed the growing settlements along their banks. To control the floods, the riparian vegetation was removed and the waterways were channelized.
Both the wildfire suppression and the channelization of waterways significantly altered the ecology and habitat of Bexar County. Much has been learned just in the past fifty years about the importance of maintaining healthy ecosystems and the benefits they provide to urban living. Now, numerous agencies within Bexar County are working on major ecosystem restoration projects.
Many of the posts on this blog have covered the major riparian restoration project that the San Antonio River Authority is managing on the San Antonio River. This is the largest restoration project of its kind in the United States. There are plans in the early stages of development to expand this restoration along several of the major tributary creeks of the River.
The San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department is in the early stages of riparian restoration projects at the Medina River Natural Area and along both the Salado Creek and Leon Creek Greenways.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is in the process of a major savanna restoration project in the Frontcountry area of Government Canyon State Natural Area. And the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department also has savanna restoration projects underway in most of their Natural Area Parks including the project at Hardberger Park pictured in this series of photos.
Which brings me full circle back to my opening statement in Part 1: if you have an interest related to urban ecology and / or ecosystem restoration, Bexar County is the place to be.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Hardberger Park, Oak Savanna Restoration Area
Today's photos:
Bexar County is a great place to live for anyone with interests related to urban ecology and ecosystem restoration. The San Antonio River Authority (SARA), the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department all have major ecosystem restoration projects in progress in the county.
I'll go into a little more detail on these projects in part 2 of this post tomorrow. For now, I'll just mention that these photos were taken this afternoon in the section of the Oak Savanna Restoration Area north of the parking lot at the NW Military Dr entrance to Hardberger Park. This restoration area was begun a couple years ago and is now fairly well established.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Medina River Natural Area, El Camino > Rio Medina > El Chaparral Trails
Today's photos:
"I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I want to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out the marrow of life… ." - Henry David Thoreau, Walden: or, Life in the Woods
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Wildscaping
"Conservation and stewardship are not spectator sports. …"
"… Texas needs an involved and educated citizenry willing to demonstrate their commitment to conserving and managing the natural and cultural resources of Texas." - Michelle Haggerty, State Coordinator, Texas Master Naturalist Program, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Ms Haggerty wrote this specifically for a Texas audience. It applies everywhere, not just Texas. One must only substitute one's own local geopolitical area and it still applies.
Wildscaping is the creation of landscape, generally using native plants, specifically designed to attract a variety of wildlife. In a small but significant way, the wildscaping of yards in a neighborhood can help mitigate the effects of fragmentation of ecosystems that has resulted from urban development.
The Bordered Patch, Monarch and Queen butterflies and the Texas spiny lizard pictured here are only a very small sample of the wildlife that can be attracted to wildscaping in Bexar County.
These photos were taken this afternoon at the Texas Master Naturalist Wildscape Demonstration Garden on the San Antonio Riverwalk next to the intersection of Aubrey St and Old Gilbeau St just upstream from the Cesar Chavez Blvd bridge.
More information about Texas wildscaping can be found at this Texas Parks and Wildlife link.
