Acreage:  Approximately 50 acres

County:    Blanco

Nearest Town:  Johnson City          

General Property Location:  5 miles northwest of Johnson City, off of Hilltop Drive

Photo 1:  Upland habitats are dominated by a mixture of scattered juniper and live oak.

Photo 2:   The rocky slope is dominated by stunted live oak and juniper with a diverse understory of shrubs. 

 Photo 3:   Portions above the upland have been invaded by prickly pear cactus.

Photo 4:  A small narrow bench above the floodplain of the Pedernales River with Texas wintergrass, rescuegrass, prairie coneflower, and Indian blanket. 

Photo 5:   Pedernales River and associated floodplain.  Agarita, prickly pear, Texas persimmon, elbowbush, condalia spp., and willow baccharis are common along the floodplain. 

Photo 6:   Rattlebush, willow baccharis, and switchgrass are typical species found along the river.

Photo 7:  The rocky slope is home to a diverse understory dominated by agarita and Texas persimmon.  A few random mesquites are seen in the background. 

Photo 8:  Recently disturbed areas within the floodplain have increased the occurrence of switchgrass, eastern gamagrass, and little bluestem.  Willow baccharis has begun to invade areas along the Pedernales River.     

 Photo 9:  Rattlebush is found along a small narrow island along the bank of the river.   

Photo 10:  A more open upland area within the oak parkland.  Juniper and prickly pear cactus have begun to invade.   

Site Description

The roughly 50-acre property is located in central Blanco County, approximately 5 miles northwest of Johnson City, Texas off of Hilltop Drive.  The Blanco County Ecolab property is irregularly shaped with its major axis occurring from northwest to southeast.  The property’s northern and eastern boundaries are bordered along Hilltop Drive.  The western property line occurs along Trails End, while the river forms the southern boundary of the property.  The Pedernales River is the only natural perennial water source on the property.  The overall slope of the property declines from northeast to southwest.  The highest elevations on the property are located within the northern portions of the property along Hilltop Drive at 1280 ft MSL.  The lowest elevations occur at 1140 ft MSL and are located along the river.  Currently, the property is partially fenced around the perimeter for livestock. 

Habitat Description

There are two main habitat types found on the Blanco County Ecolab property including an oak parkland and a narrow floodplain along the Pedernales River.  The most dominant habitat type, covering approximately 35-40 acres is oak parkland.  Woody plant canopy cover within this rocky habitat type is approximately 30%-60% with stunted live oak and juniper dominating the tree layer.  Portions of the upland habitats are more open in appearance, depending on the density of juniper.  Other tree species present include cedar elm, Spanish oak and cedar elm.    Understory vegetation is moderately dense and composed of a healthy mix of Texas persimmon, agarita, kidneywood, twist-leaf yucca, elbowbush, prickly pear, condalia, and shin oak.  Prickly pear cactus is extremely dense in portions of the upland habitat (Photo 3).  Two-leaf senna, Lindheimer’s senna, velvet-leaf mallow, and Turk’s cap are scattered throughout.  The herbaceous layer is moderately dense throughout and includes sideoats grama, hairy grama, seep muhly, little bluestem, King Ranch bluestem, silver bluestem, plains lovegrass, and Texas wintergrass.  Lindheimer muhly and seep muhly are found in varying densities on the slope above the river.  Croton, western ragweed, and several wildflowers are scattered throughout the oak parkland. 

The corridor along the river varies from open floodplain to a small terrace above the floodplain.  Understory vegetation associated within the corridor along the river included young sycamore, regrowth juniper, rattlebush, willow baccharis, mesquite and bumelia.  The herbaceous layer within the floodplain of the river is comprised of little bluestem, silver bluestem, and sideoats grama. Johnsongrass is found in small quantities along the river along with the more common switchgrass, Lindheimer muhly, and seep muhly.  The small terrace above the floodplain occurs as a buffer between the parkland habitats and the floodplain.  Towering oaks and pecan  provide canopy for a small opening dominated by Indian blanket, prairie coneflower, and cool season grasses including Texas wintergrass and rescuegrass.    

Soil Descriptions

There are two main soil types which are located on the Blanco County Ecolab property.   

1. Map Unit 10.  Eckrant-Rock outcrop association, rolling
2. Map Unit RW.  -  Riverwash, frequently flooded

The Eckert series consists of soils that are shallow to petrocalcic horizon.  They are well drained, undulating to rolling soils of uplands.  The soil formed in and is underlain by dolomitic limestone.  In a representative profile, the soil is dark brown, silty loam 4-14 inches thick that contains about 50 percent limestone fragments. Soil permeability is moderate and available water holding capacity is very low.  The soil has a low natural fertility and shallow rooting depth. It is almost exclusively used as rangeland.  The Eckert - rock outcrop association is classified in the Stony Loam range site.  The climax vegetation includes scattered scrubby live oak, elms, and other shrubs, associated with little bluestem, green sprangletop, sideoats grama, fringe-leaf paspalum, yucca; and forbs such as sagewort. 

Riverwash, gravelly consists of unstabilized gravel beds in the floor of intermittently flooded streams.  These areas are mostly barren of vegetation due to the scouring during flooding.  Permeability is rapid and available water holding capacity is very low.

Research Possibilities

Due to the property’s size and different habitat types, a wide variety of research projects could be conducted.  Flora/Fauna baseline data gathered from this site might prove useful due to lack of grazing pressure on portions of the Blanco County Ecolab property.  The diverse habitat types each support unique vegetation composition and structure. 

The presence of existing varieties of diverse and healthy plant communities provide excellent habitat for wildlife.  The oak upland parkland and Pedernales River bench communities are home to a wide variety of wildlife.  Several bird species were observed during the initial site visit and included: Summer Tanager, Painted Bunting, Mourning Dove, White-winged Dove, Northern Cardinal, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Northern Mockingbird, Black-crested Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and Ash-throated Flycatcher.  Numerous dragonflies, damselflies, and other insects were seen along the 400 meters of river frontage.  White-eyed Vireo, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Red-shouldered Hawk, Cliff Swallow, and Barn Swallow were some of the additional species of bird found along the frontage of Pedernales River.   This Ecolab property is directly across the river and slightly downstream from the Blanco 5 Ecolab property. 

Mark Gray

Senior Wildlife Biologist

Plateau Land & Wildlife Management