Ecological Research Evaluation
Site Visit - August 2006
Bastrop County 4
Acreage: Approximately 91.6 acres
County: Bastrop
Nearest Town: Smithville
General Property Location: 5 miles north of Smithville, within eastern Bastrop County, off of Cottletown Road.
Photo 1: Below the large pond, along hillside with young loblolly pine and willow baccharis. Mixed pine and hardwood woodland surround the area. Pockets of reseeding efforts can be seen in patches of little bluestem and sideoats grama.
Photo 2: Mixed hardwood woodland with loblolly pine. Eastern red cedar and yaupon are characteristic understory vegetation.
Photo 3: One of two permanent man-made ponds. Several dragonfly species were seen resting along the protective barbwire fence.
Photo 4: Vegetative habitats above the small pond. White boneset and American beautyberry dominate.
Photo 5: Improved pasture created with wildlife corridors. Additional trees have been planted including several pecans. Native prairie grasses have been reseeded to help reduce the dominance of the improved pasture and increase herbaceous diversity.
Photo 6: View of the wildlife corridors created within the improved pasture.
Photo 7: View of the largest of the ponds. The owner has planted several trees and reseeded along the banks to improve vegetative diversity.
Photo 8: Area just east of the large pond on the property. Towering pines are seen in the background.
Photo 9: One of two ephemeral ponds created on the property. Only a small amount of water remained. These ponds were installed as potential Houston Toad habitat.
Photo 10: Tadpoles found within one of the ephemeral ponds.
Photo 11: Drainage within pine/hardwood woodland. Some individual post oak and blackjack oak removal has taken place.
Site Description
The roughly 91.6-acre property is located in eastern Bastrop County, approximately 5 miles north of Smithville, Texas, off of Cottletown Road. The Bastrop County Ecolab property is irregularly shaped with its major axis occurring from west to east. The property is composed of two larger man-made ponds which maintain water throughout the year and two small ephemeral ponds. There is a small wet-weather drainage which flows northeast to southwest through the property. The general topography of the property is gently sloping hills declining from west to east. The highest elevations are found in the western portions of the property at 490 ft. MSL. The lowest elevations are located along the eastern property boundary at 390 ft. MSL. The property is not currently fenced around the perimeter for livestock production.
Habitat Description
There are three main habitat types found on the Bastrop County Ecolab property including Hardwood/pine woodlands, hardwood woodlands, and improved pasture. The most dominant habitat type, covering approximately 55-60 acres is hardwood/pine woodland. Woody plant canopy cover within this habitat type is approximately 80% -90% with loblolly pine dominating the tree layer. Other tree species present include eastern red cedar, post oak, blackjack oak, and cedar elm. Understory vegetation is moderately dense with yaupon and American beautyberry. Black hickory is also present in small quantities. The “lake” is located within this main habitat type. The owner has reseeded beneficial native Texas grasses along the banks and planted numerous trees including bald cypress, pecan, magnolia, burr oak, hackberry, and Texas persimmon. Yaupon, American beautyberry, and rattlebush are quite common around the large pond and associated drainages. Little bluestem, silver bluestem, sideoats grama and coastal Bermudagrass form dense herbaceous cover surrounding the pond.
The second major habitat type found on the Bastrop County Ecolab property is mixed hardwood woodlands. This habitat type is approximately 10-15 acres and is typically found in the north central and north western portions of the property. Post oak, blackjack oak, and eastern red cedar dominate the canopy layer. Loblolly pine and cedar elm are found in lower densities. American beautyberry and yaupon are common throughout the understory. The herbaceous layer is sparse due to dense leaf litter, comprised of pine needles and oak leaves, and limited sun light due to the dense canopy cover.
The remaining habitat found is an approximate 10-acre improved pasture dominated by coastal Bermudagrass scattered with loblolly pines, forming wildlife movement corridors. American beautyberry, partridge pea, and white boneset are common throughout the area. The landowner has planted over 50 pecan trees throughout the improved pasture, 41 of which have survived. Additionally, the owner improved plant diversity with plantings of green ash, red maple, burr oak, and Texas persimmon. The second largest pond is located within this pasture located within the northeast corner of the property. Portions of the pond have been fenced to prevent trampling by cattle, while cattails and pickerelweed have been planted to increase wildlife habitat shelter within the pond.
Soil Descriptions
There are six main soil types which are located on the Bastrop County Ecolab property.
- AtD - Edge gravelly fine sandy loam, 3 to 8 percent slopes
- SkC - Silstid loamy fine sand, 1 to 5 percent slopes
- DeC - Robco loamy fine sand, 2 to 5 percent slopes, eroded
- Sa - Sayers fine sandy loam, 0 to 1 percent slopes, occasionally flooded
- JeF - Jedd gravelly fine sandy loam, 5 to 20 percent slopes
- VeD - Vernia very gravelly loamy sand, 1 to 8 percent slopes
Edge soils (AtD) make up 95 percent of the map unit. This component is on a ridge and the runoff class is very high. The depth to a restrictive feature is greater than 60 inches. It is well drained. The slowest soil permeability within a depth of 60 inches is very slow. Available water capacity to a depth of 60 inches is moderate, and shrink swell potential is moderate. Annual flooding is none, and annual ponding is none. The minimum depth to a water table is greater than 6 feet. The maximum calcium carbonate equivalent within a depth of 40 inches is 2 percent. In the profile, there are no saline horizons, and the maximum sodicity is moderate. The series is moderately deep to very deep uplands with loamy surfaces and dense subsoils; slopes 0 to 5 percent; low natural fertility; seasonally wet or droughty; medium water holding capacity but poor to fair plant-soil-moisture relationship; medium to high production potential. This component is in the Claypan Savannah, ecological site. Climax vegetation is a post oak, blackjack oak savannah, with little bluestem, Indiangrass, purpletop, brownseed paspalum, uniola, lespedezas, tickclovers, snoutbeans, sensitivebriar, and neptunia.
Silstid loamy fine sand (SkC) is a deep sand soil greater than 60 inches deep with moderate permeability and available water capacity but good plant-soil moisture relationship. The surface layer is slightly acid loamy fine sand up to 28 inches deep. It is classified in the Sandy ecological site. Climax vegetation is post oak, blackjack oak savannah, with hickory, hawthorns, American beautyberry, little and big bluestems, Indiangrass, switchgrass, sand lovegrass, purpletop, uniola, paspalums, and panicums. Forbs include lespedezas, tickclovers, snoutbeans, butterfly pea, milkpea, partridge pea, and tephrosia.
The Robco series (DeC) are deep and very deep, sandy uplands with clayey or loamy subsoils. The soils have low to medium water holding capacity, and moderate shrink-well potential. Annual flooding and ponding is none. The Robco series is characterized with having low natural fertility with medium to high production potential. Climax vegetation is post oak, blackjack oak savannah, with hickory, hawthorns, American beautyberry, little and big bluestem, Indiangrass, switchgrass, sand lovegrass, purpletop, uniola, and panicums. Forbs include lespedezas, tickclovers, snoutbeans, butterfly pea, milkpea, partridge pea, and tephrosia. The Robco series are classified within the Sandy range site.
Sayers soils occur within a floodplain and are composed of deep sandy alluvial sediment. The depth to a restrictive feature is greater than 60 inches. It is somewhat excessively drained. The slowest soil permeability within a depth of 60 inches is moderately rapid. Available water capacity to a depth of 60 inches is low, and shrink swell potential is low. Annual flooding is occasional, and annual ponding is none. The soils have medium production potential and low natural fertility. The minimum depth to a water table is greater than 6 feet. In the profile, there are no saline horizons, and there are no sodic horizons. This component is in the Sandy Bottomland, ecological site. Climax vegetation is a savannah of oak, elm, ash, sycamore, cottonwood, and black willow trees; with woody understory and switchgrass, Indiangrass, bluestem, purpletop, Virginia wildrye, sedges, uniolas, tick clover, snoutbean, wildbeans, ironweed, and white crownbeard.
This map unit (JeF) is in the Texas Claypan Area. This component is on a ridge and the runoff class is high. The depth to a restrictive feature is 20 to 40 inches to bedrock (paralithic). It is well drained. The slowest soil permeability within a depth of 60 inches is moderately slow. Available water capacity to a depth of 60 inches is low, and shrink swell potential is moderate. Annual flooding is none, and annual ponding is none. The minimum depth to a water table is greater than 6 feet. In the profile, there are no saline horizons, and there are no sodic horizons. Moderately deep to very deep uplands with loamy surfaces and friable loamy subsoils; slopes greater than 8 percent; medium natural fertility; medium to high water holding capacity with good plant-soil-moisture relationship; medium to high production potential. This component is in the Sandstone Hill ecological site. Climax vegetation is savannah and includes little bluestem, sand lovegrass, purpletop, sideoats grama, Scribner panicum, post oak, live oak, elm, hackberry, bumelia, greenbrier, sensitivebriar, sagewort, lespedeza, and other forbs.
This map unit (VeD) is in the Texas Claypan Area, where component is on a stream terrace. The runoff class is very low. The depth to a restrictive feature is greater than 60 inches. It is well drained. The slowest soil permeability within a depth of 60 inches is moderate. Available water capacity to a depth of 60 inches is low, and shrink swell potential is low. Annual flooding is none, and annual ponding is none. The minimum depth to a water table is greater than 6 feet. In the profile, there are no saline horizons, and there are no sodic horizons. Deep and very deep, sandy uplands with sandy surfaces greater than 40 inches; low natural fertility; low water holding capacity with good plant-soil-moisture relationship; low to medium production potential. This component is in the Gravelly, ecological site. Climax vegetation is a post oak, blackjack oak savannah, with understory of American beautyberry, yaupon, hawthorns, and greenbrier. Little bluestem Indiangrass, purpletop, brownseed paspalum, uniola, sideoats grama, occur with lespedezas, tickclovers, snoutbeans, and sensitivebriar.
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 Bastrop County Ecolab property. The diverse habitat types each support unique vegetation composition and structure.
This site offers a chance for research in an island of habitat that is isolated from the remainder of southeastern pine forests. The most prominent research interest in the Lost Pines area is the endangered Houston toad (Bufo houstonensis). Surveys could be conducted in the surrounding area to determine presence/absence and ponds could be created to determine likelihood of expansion and colonization of new habitat by the toad. Establishment of new populations through reintroduction to newly created pond habitat could also be assessed.
The presence of existing varieties of diverse and healthy plant communities provide excellent habitat for wildlife. The woodland and pasture communities are home to a wide variety of wildlife. Several bird species were observed during the initial site visit and included: Black Vulture, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Cardinal, Chimney Swift, Barn Swallow, Red-bellied Woodpecker, American Crow, Black-crested Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, and Carolina Wren. Pileated Woodpecker, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, and Wood Duck have been known to nest on the property.
Mark Gray - Senior Wildlife Biologist
Plateau Land & Wildlife Management
