Ecological Research Evaluation
Blanco 5
Acreage: Approximately 89 acres
County: Blanco
Nearest Town: Johnson City
General Property Location: 5 miles northwest of Johnson City, off of Althaus Ranch Rd.
Photo 1: Along a riverine bank above the Pedernales River. The property has approximately 700 m of frontage along the river.
Photo 2: Rock ledge where small pools of water form. Several dragonflies were seen throughout the area.
Photo 3: Portions above the river are manicured. There is an abundance of Johnsongrass along these banks.
Photo 4: Oak parkland with an understory dominated by Texas persimmon, kidneywood, and agarita. The herbaceous layer was dense with little bluestem, plains lovegrass, and sideoats grama.
Photo 5: Small drainage which flows northward to the river. Texas oak, live oak, and cedar elm are found along and above the drainage. Seep and Lindheimer muhly are prevalent in the area.
Photo 6: Dense layer of nolina found within the oak parkland.
Photo 7: A small section within the parkland habitat is dense with sotol. Secondary growth juniper has begun to spread into the habitat.
Photo 8: Parkland with dense understory comprised of Texas persimmon, kidneywood, pink mimosa, agarita, and prickly pear.
Photo 9: Oak parkland with regrowth juniper and some mesquite which is beginning to invade the open space.
Photo 10: Typical understory vegetation found in dense clumps. Persimmon, mimosa, and agarita dominate.
Site Description
The roughly 89-acre property is located in central Blanco County, approximately 5 miles northwest of Johnson City, Texas off of Althaus Ranch Road. The Blanco County Ecolab property is irregularly shaped with its major axis occurring from northwest to southeast corners. The property’s northern boundaries are bordered by the Pedernales River. The western property line is formed along a private easement road, while all remaining boundary lines are bordered by neighboring properties. The Pedernales River, which flows west to east, is the only natural perennial water source on the property. A small drainage which eventually terminates into the river is wet only during substantial rain events. The overall slope of the property declines from southwest to northeast where it becomes level along the river. The highest elevations on the property are located within the southwestern corner at 1200 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 bench corridor along the Pedernales River. The most dominant habitat type, covering approximately 80 acres is oak parkland. The upland areas include slopes and flat areas (benches) between and above the slopes. Woody plant canopy cover within this habitat type is approximately 30%-40% with live oak dominating the tree layer. Other tree species present include cedar elm, Spanish oak, Ashe juniper, and shin oak. Understory vegetation is moderately dense within the parkland habitats and composed of a healthy mix of Texas persimmon, agarita, kidneywood, twist-leaf yucca, sotol, pink mimosa, stunted live oak, and regrowth juniper. The herbaceous layer is fairly dense throughout and includes sideoats grama, hairy grama, tall grama, 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 and along the drainage. Croton, western ragweed, and several wildflowers are scattered throughout the oak parkland.
The corridor along the river varies in vegetative composition from open manicured areas to wooded mottes. Pecan, mesquite, sycamore, Texas ash, and cedar elm are found within these mottes. Understory vegetation associated within the corridor along the river included young sycamore, regrowth juniper, Texas persimmon, wafer ash, and evergreen sumac. The herbaceous layer above the river is comprised of little bluestem, silver bluestem, and sideoats grama. Johnsongrass is dense in several pockets above the river, while switchgrass and bushy bluestem are typically found along the river’s frontage. Neon skimmer, widow skimmer, eastern pondhawk, and variegated meadowhawk are few of the many species of dragonflies that were seen along the Pedernales River
Soil Descriptions
There are three main soil types which are located on the Blanco County Ecolab property.
- Map Unit 10. Eckrant-Rock outcrop association, rolling
- Map Unit 30. Nebgen-Oben-Rock outcrop association, rolling
- 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.
This association consists of shallow, stony, and loamy soils and Rock outcrop on rolling uplands. Typically, Nebgen soils have a surface layer of very friable, reddish brown fine sandy loam about 14 inches thick. Nebgen soils are well drained. Runoff is rapid. Permeability is moderately rapid, and available water capacity is very low. Oben soils have a surface layer of very friable brown stony sandy loam about 7 inches thick. Oben soils are well drained. Runoff is medium. Permeability is moderate, and available water capacity is very low. Nebgen soils are in the Sandstone Hills ecological site. Oben soils are in the Red Sandy Loam ecological site. Rock Outcrop is not assigned an ecological site. The historic climax plant community is a live oak and post oak savanna. Dominant grasses are little bluestem, sideoats grama, Indiangrass, hooded windmillgrass, cane bluestem, and pinhole bluestem.
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: Blue Grosbeak, Painted Bunting, Greater Roadrunner, Northern Cardinal, Chimney Swift, Field Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Northern Mockingbird, Black-crested Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Numerous dragonflies, damselflies, and other insects were seen along the more than 700 meters of river frontage. White-eyed Vireo, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Red-winged Blackbird, and Eastern Phoebe were some of the additional species of bird found along the frontage of Pedernales River.
Mark Gray
Senior Wildlife Biologist
Plateau Land & Wildlife Management
