The Woman’s Thursday Club of Dublin met once again in the conference room at Karen Wright’s Black Jack Office Building. The meeting was hosted by Edilsia Jimenez, who, with her daughter Ellisa Tiscareño, presented a fine program on the South Texas Plains Ecoregion. This Ecoregion occupies 20.5 million acres, and is the third largest ecoregion, behind the Rolling Plains Ecoregion we learned about last month from Patty Hirst. It lies south of San Antonio, reaches to the Rio Grande to the west, extends down to the coast, and except for a tiny sliver of Gulf Prairies and Marshes, occupies most of the southern region of Texas. It is characterized by rolling countryside and desert.
This area is a delight for birdwatchers at the Rio Grande Valley, bargain hunters who visit the border towns, and history enthusiasts touring the Alamo and Mission Trail in San Antonio. Many who know Texas history are aware that this was the first part of Texas to be settled. The King Ranch is also located in this Ecoregion. This ranch, alone, is larger than the state of Rhode Island! It is the largest ranch at almost 1,300 square miles, in the United States, and one of the largest in the world. The Santa Gertudis cattle (characterized by its Brahman-like hump in which it stores water, low food requirement and high milk production) were first bred here, and some famous quarterhorses have come out of the King Ranch.
Its pleasant year-round mild weather makes it a destination for golfers, hunters, Winter Texans, and birders. The Crested Caracara, and Chacalaca birds are quite the treat to see. It is a sub-tropical habitat, which started out as lush grassland. Due to grazing pressure, the introduction of barbed wire, compaction, lack of natural wildfires, and periodic drought, it has evolved into stirrup-high grasses, full of mesquite, blackbrush and thorny plants, including prickly pear and star cactus. Ranchers have discovered that by burning the thorns off of the prickly pear, this has become a moisture-rich treat for cattle. It is no easy task to burn the thorns, but in drought years it is worth the effort. A black fungus as well as the rich color in the fruit are some sources of richly-colored dyes used in Native American textiles. Ranchers Agriculture in this region includes cotton, corn, sorghum, fruit, including lots of citrus, notably Ruby Red Grapefruit and Valley Red Lemons, and many vegetables. Its mild winters enable crops to grow yearround. The climate varies from semi-arid, to more humid inland. Average rainfall is 20-32” annually, with the highest rainfall at the coast. It is lowest in the winter, and highest in the spring and fall.
Wildlife includes javelina, whitetail deer, coyotes, ocelots, and Nilgai (an antelope from India, introduced in the 20’s. This area is favorable for Nilgai, which has grown to a herd of about 15,000, all of which are in the King Ranch. You will not find them wild anywhere else on this continent.
This area enjoys a rich cultural heritage. It has a strong Cowboy Culture, and is a mixture of Mexican and American cultures. There are 5 notable missions in this area: The Alamo, Concepción, San José, San Juan and Espada Missions. Tejano music is a Mexican folk style music made popular in the public mainstream by the likes of Freddy Fender and Selena. San Antonio is considered to be the capital of Tejano music. It is typified by instruments like the accordion and guitars.
Our December 11 meeting will be at the home of Dana Herod (if the dairy aroma at the time is not too overwhelming), at which she and Mary Howard will present the Cross Timbers and Prairies Ecoregion.