The second gathering of the Woman’s Thursday Club for the new 2-year study cycle was held at the Patrick Street church of Christ Annex, Thursday, Oct. 10.
The first order of business was to be introduced to the club's new study topic, The Ecoregions of Texas.
Who better to educate the club about this new topic than Dr. Marsha Stephens? Dr. Stephens started her educational career as a Wildlife Biologist.
She is now involved with the Texas Master Naturalist Program, which is jointly sponsored by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, and Texas Parks and Wildlife. The local chapter is the Prairie Oaks Chapter, serving four counties: Erath, Comanche, Palo Pinto and Hamilton. Current activities include the 7th annual bird count, coming up Dec. 14, and the Statewide Bat Survey to assist Texas Parks and Wildlife. Do you know that there are more bat species in Texas, than in any other state?
On to the club's study topic of Texas EcoRegions. What is an EcoRegion? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines it as: An area defined by environmental conditions, especially climate, landforms and soils plus characteristic plant and animal communities resulting from interrelationships and interactions among biotic and abiotic elements. Ecoregions occur in varying scales.
What causes areas to be unique? Its underlying geology. The Cretaceous Age formation in the region leads to the kind of soil we have here. The five factors which creat e theenvironment, and support plants and animals that define an ecoregion, are: 1- Geology, 2- Soil, 3Rainfall, 4 – Temperature, and 5- Elevation. Ecotones are the areas on both sides of the dividing lines between ecoregions, which are fascinating to Master Naturalists.
Texas is a transition zone in itself. John Wesley Powell, famous for discovering the Grand Canyon, declared the 100th meridian as the official dividing line between east and west in the United States. Similarly, Amon Carter calls Texas “Where the West begins”, and the Abilene Reporter calls Texas “Where the West is At.” Likewise, Walter Prescott Webb states that The Great Plains begin at the 98th meridian. Recently, the Lamont Doherty Observatory has identified that our identifying regions have shifted 140 miles to the east in the last 100 years. Crops which had been fruitful in our county now thrives 140 miles to the east!
Dr. Stephens gave us a little head start in our study session by telling us her favorite plant or animal in each of our 10 Ecoregions: Piney Woods – Flying Squirrel; Gulf Prairies and Marshes – Whooping Crane; Post Oak Savannah – Navasota Ladies’ Tresses Orchid (found only in TX); Blackland Prairie – Native Tall Grass Prairie; Cross Timbers and Prairies – Golden-cheeked Warbler (only found in TX); South TX Plains – Indigo Snake (which eats Rattlers); Edwards Plateau – Salamanders (10 species); Rolling Plains – TX Kangaroo Rat; High Plains – American Bison; Trans Pecos – American Black Bear.
“In the end, we will only conserve what we love. We will love only what we understand, and will only understand what we are taught.” – Baba Dioum, Senegalese conservationist.
One tip from Dr. Stephens: Keep all the pieces. The array of plants and animals we enjoy all depend on each other. As humans, we tend to have an impact on our environment. So, let’s not decide to eliminate one thing or another which we deem to be dangerous or unnecessary. Keep all the pieces.
Following Dr. Stephens’ presentation, the Thursday Club continued with its usual business meeting.
A couple of items of public interest is the intent of the club to be notified of opportunities to help the library occasionally on Fridays, as the need arises throughout the year. As a service, as well as a literary group, several ladies welcome the opportunity.
As well, even if not scheduled to help as a museum docent, the effort to help the Dublin Historical Museum to document and find its artifacts is ongoing, if anyone wants to help!