Property Evaluation

Blanco County 4

 

                                 

 

                                    

Acreage:  58

County:    Blanco

Nearest Town:  Henly           

General Property Location:  Located approximately 10 miles southwest of Henly, near the RM 165 / RM 2325 intersection.    

 

 

Photo point 1:   Opening in the live oak / juniper parkland.  Little bluestem is dominant plant.  Steep Adobe ecological site.  

 

Photo point 2:   Area cleared in live oak / juniper parkland.  Live oaks in background.  Lack of grasses, forbs, and shrubs caused by previous state being closed-canopy woodland and some physical disturbance caused by skid steer with shears.  Shallow ecological site. 

 

Photo point 3:  Another area cleared in live oak / juniper parkland.  Spanish oaks in foreground.  Clay Loam ecological site. 

 

Photo point 4:  Undisturbed parkland picture with juniper in background (little bluestem in foreground).  Clay Loam ecological site. 

 

Photo point 5:   Undisturbed parkland picture with juniper and little bluestem in foreground.   Clay Loam ecological site. 

 

Photo point 6:  Riparian woodland.  Scribner’s rosette grass and cedar elm are dominant species.  Clay Loam ecological site. 

 

Photo point 7:  Juniper break along riparian woodland.  Clay Loam ecological site. 

 

 

Site Description

 

The roughly-rectangular shaped property is located about 10 miles southwest of Henly, Texas.  A small pond that holds water irregularly is located on the property’s northeast corner.  An un-named creek enters the property to the north, heads south and then southwest, and exits the property on its western boundary.  A drainage runs from the eastern edge of the property into the un-named creek.  The terrain slopes moderately towards the creek and drainage.  The high point of the property, 1340 ft MSL, occurs on the tract’s northeast corner while the low point of 1260 ft MSL occurs where the creek exits the property.  The property has perimeter fencing. 

 

 

Habitat Description

 

This property consists of two major habitat types – a live oak / juniper parkland in the upland areas and a riparian woodland along the creek.  Significant juniper management has been conducted on upland areas.  The canopy cover in affected areas was reduced by tree shears from approximately 60% to an average of 30%, though some areas had canopy cover as low as 10%.  In addition to live oak and juniper, Spanish oak and white shin oak were also present.  The herbaceous community could be described as mid-successional.  The property has not been grazed by livestock for several years.  As expected on Brackett, Krum and Purves soils in good condition, little bluestem was the dominant species.  Other plants and forbs observed in the upland parkland habitat included tall grama, silver bluestem, queen’s delight, velvet bundleflower, orange zexmania, oldfield threeawn, mountain pink, and some King Ranch bluestem.  Significant soil disturbance occurred during the brush management as reflected in pictures 2 and 3.  Herbaceous plants and shrubs were extremely limited or non-existent in many areas that had been cleared because the previous canopy cover was closed or nearly so. 

 

The area around the drainage and un-named creek can be classified as a mixed woodland.  Live oak, juniper, escarpment black cherry, possumhaw, and cedar elm were the dominant woody plants.  Several redbud, sugarberry, red mulberry, and blackjack oak were also present.  The sparse shrub layer included elbowbush, agarita, and some persimmon.  Portions of the riparian area did not have any woody plant cover.  The herbaceous community in the water courses included Lindheimer muhly, bushy bluestem, indiangrass, spike rush, and Scribner’s rosette grass.  Other plants and forbs included Japanese brome, Johnsongrass, wildrye, and frostweed.

 

Significant white-tailed herbivory was observed on cedar elm and possumhaw.  In addition to a prominent browse line on preferred woody plant species, lack of recruitment of cedar elm, Spanish oak, sugarberry, and redbud reflects the area’s high deer population. 

 

Soil Descriptions:

 

The study property consisted of three soil types.  Brackett soils were limited to the northeast corner of the property.  Klum soils dominated the central and western portions of the tract while Purves soils were present in portions of the central part of the property and all of the southeast.

 

 

         Map Unit 6.  Brackett association, undulating

 

The Brackett soil association is composed of shallow, loamy and occasionally clayey soils interspersed with limestone bedrock outcroppings. The soil is moderately alkaline (pH 7.9 – 8.4). These soils range from 11 – 17 inches in total depth. They are well drained, have a modernly slow permeability with very low available water capacity and a shallow rooting zone. Runoff is rapid and water erosion is a severe hazard.  A distinguishing feature of Brackett soils is a benched or stair-stepped appearance due to the bands of rock outcrop. The historic vegetation for this site is savannah of little bluestem, indiangrass, tall grama, tall dropseed, sideoats grama, oaks, blackfoot daisy, orange zexmania, dalea, bundleflower, and sundrop. Juniper invades the site with fire suppression and overgrazing.  Brackett association, undulating is in the Adobe ecological site. 

Map Unit. 25.  Krum clay, 3 to 5 percent slopes

The Krum series consists of very deep, well drained, nearly level to moderately sloping soils of uplands.  The soil formed in calcareous clayey sediments.  In a representative profile, the surface layer is dark grayish brown to very dark grayish brown silty clay about 26 inches thick.  The next lower layer is a brown silty clay about 18 inches thick.  The underlying sediments are reddish yellow silty clay.  Permeability is moderately slow and available water holding capacity is high.  The historic climax plant community is predominantly little bluestem with indiangrass, big bluestem, switchgrass, vine-mesquite, sideoats grama, elm, live oak, hackberry; and many forbs such as maximilian sunflower, engelmanndaisy, bush sunflower, halfshrub sundrop, and ratany.  This soil is classified in the Clay Loam ecological site. 

 

Map Unit 38.  Purves association, undulating

This association consists of shallow, stony soils that are underlain by limestone.  Slopes are convex and range from 1 to 8 percent.  Typically, the Purves soils have a surface layer of firm, very dark grayish brown stony clay about 9 inches thick.  These soils are well drained.  Surface runoff is medium.  Permeability is moderately slow, and available water capacity is very low.  The range is an open grassland of midgrasses and scattered live oak motts.  Dominant grasses are little bluestem, sideoats grama, pinhole bluestem, buffalograss, and threeawns.  This soil is classified as a Shallow ecological site. 

 

 

 

Research Possibilities

 

One of the most intriguing research aspects of this property is the fact that significant brush control has been performed in the last year.  The plant composition in cleared areas is early successional with very little or no herbaceous plants present.  Changes in herbaceous composition of these areas can be monitored with or without additional inputs (reseeding, contours, mulched areas, etc.). 

 

The woody plant community on uplands and riparian areas would be more diverse by either reducing the deer population or building exclosures to limit access.  If exclosures were constructed, recruitment of highly palatable shrubs and trees could be measured against areas receiving no protection.

 

Historically, the introduced grasses on the property, King Ranch bluestem, Johnsongrass, and Japanese brome are not part of the historic climax plant community.  The presence/absence of these plants and rate of spread could be studied, particularly the spread of these exotics in recently cleared areas. 

 

The effects of prescribed burn on vegetative communities on upland areas could be tested in areas with sufficient fine fuel load.  Historically, fires occurred every 7 to 12 years in the Edwards Plateau, exerting a strong influence on the evolution of upland habitats. 

 

Because the creek does not hold water year round, research into fish, frogs, and most macro-invertebrate species is not possible. 

 

Due to its habitat diversity ranging from upland parklands to riparian woodlands, This research site hosts a variety of insect and bird species whose behavior and presence/absence could be monitored.   

 

Both the upland and riparian habitats border RM 165.  Wildlife responses to the highway noise could be studied along the road frontage.   

 

 

Keith Olenick

Senior Wildlife Biologist

Plateau Land & Wildlife Management