Ecological Research Evaluation

Blanco County 6

 

           

 

 

Acreage:  Approximately 54 acres

County:    Blanco

Nearest Town:  Blanco        

General Property Location:  Approximately 7 miles southwest of the Hwy 290 / FM 165 intersection in Austin, roughly 8.5 miles northeast of Blanco.   

 

 

Photo Point 1:  Representative view of juniper-oak parkland on upland area.  Site is dominated by little bluestem.  Texas madrone is shown in the foreground with Spanish oak in background. 

 

Photo point 2:   View of riparian juniper-oak woodland.  Juniper trees are particularly thick in many areas including this one.  Spanish oak and escarpment black cherry are mixed in with juniper here. 

 

Photo point 3:   Another view of riparian juniper-oak woodland occurring in drainage area.  This location is the site of a waterfall and pooling area holding water during wetter conditions.  Water was not present during 10/2006 site visit. 

 

Photo point 4:   Representative view of juniper-oak parkland.  Regrowth juniper dominates in this view while little bluestem comprises the bulk of the herbaceous layer.

 

Photo point 5:   Another view of juniper-oak parkland.  Moderate amounts of bare ground occurring throughout several portions of parkland habitats.

 

Photo point 6:  View of juniper-oak parkland occurring on very thin, xeric soils.  Tall grama, seep muhly, and Queen’s delight are the dominant herbaceous plants.  Juniper, live oak, and Spanish oak were seen in background.

 

Photo point 7:  View overlooking intermittent creek abutting northern property boundary.  Lighter colored trees are Spanish oak and escarpment black cherry while darker trees are juniper and live oak. 

 

Photo point 8:  View of adolescent juniper serving as nursery area for young Texas madrone.  Several cedar sedge plants also occurring under canopy. 

 

Photo point 9:  View of upland juniper-oak woodland.  Live oak, juniper and Texas madrone shown in this view.  Little herbaceous plants present due to lack of sunlight.  

 

Site Description

 

The approximately 54-acre property is located in southeastern Blanco County off of Divide Pass, approximately 7 miles southwest of the Hwy 290 / FM 165 intersection.  The irregularly-shaped property is bordered to the north by an intermittent creek which is a subsidiary of Yeager Creek; the property is bordered to the southeast by Divide Pass.  In addition to the intermittent creek marking the northern boundary, two drainages run from south to north and drain into this water feature.  The tract’s terrain is lightly sloped in the southern part of the property, but becomes very steep near the creek and its associated drainages.   The property’s general tilt is toward the north.  The low point of the property, approximately 1400 ft MSL occurs where the intermittent creek exits the property while the high elevation of approximately 1620 ft MSL can be found along the southeastern boundary.   The property has some internal fencing for livestock grazing, but no perimeter fencing.  Grazing has not been conducted on the property since the 1970s. 

 

Habitat Description

 

The Blanco County property consists of three major habitat types including a riparian juniper-oak woodland, an upland juniper-oak woodland, and a juniper-oak parkland.  The property’s premier ecological feature is the riparian juniper-oak woodland located along the intermittent creek and its associated drainages.  While mature juniper dominated the tree layer of this high canopy cover habitat type, a wide variety of other trees were present including live oak, Spanish oak, mature Texas madrone, escarpment black cherry, bumelia, Carolina buckthorn, and Texas ash.  The abundant shrub layer included regrowth juniper, Lindheimer silktassel, redbud, young Texas ash, and some fragrant mimosa.  The herbaceous layer in these heavily shaded areas was somewhat limited with cedar sedge dominating shaded areas and tall grama, seep muhly, and little bluestem dominating areas receiving partial sunlight.  Virginia creeper and winter grape were also observed.  Maidenhair fern was seen in more mesic areas along established water channels.  These riparian woodlands are in excellent health and have disproportionate value for wildlife, particularly neo-tropical songbirds. 

 

The upland juniper-oak woodlands are located in the southwestern and north-central portions of the property.  This habitat type has a nearly closed canopy layer.  Mature juniper is the dominant woody plant with live oak being the next most abundant tree species.  Deciduous trees such as Spanish oak, escarpment black cherry, and Texas ash were more common on more heavily sloped upland areas.  Other trees noted in this habitat type included white shin oak, bumelia, and Texas madrone.  Herbaceous plants were similar to those found in the riparian juniper-oak woodland. 

 

The juniper-oak parkland occurs almost entirely in upland areas in the southern and eastern parts of the tract.  It is evident that recent and not-so-recent juniper management has occurred in many parts of this habitat type.  Woody plant canopy cover of this habitat type is variable, but averages about 40% with middle-aged and mature juniper dominating the tree layer.  Live oak is the second most abundant woody plant in these areas, while other tree species are scattered Spanish oak and Texas Madrone.  The abundant understory shrub layer includes large amounts of regrowth juniper and flameleaf sumac with redbud, young Texas madrone, agarita, elbowbush, and bumelia comprising a smaller proportion.  Surprisingly, no persimmon trees were observed on the property, though some are certainly present.  The composition of the herbaceous plant layer depended heavily on soil depth.  Shallow, xeric sites were dominated by tall grama, seep muhly, little bluestem, and Queen’s delight while deeper soils were dominated by King Ranch bluestem, little bluestem, and buffalograss.  Other less abundant herbaceous plants observed included orange zexmania, noseburn, cedar sedge (occurring in heavily shaded areas).  King Ranch bluestem is particularly abundant in areas where soil disturbance has occurred (cleared right of ways, roads, power lines, etc.). 

 

Soil Descriptions

 

The study property consists almost entirely of soils in the Brackett-Real association, hilly.  This association consists of shallow, loamy soils on uplands.  Angular limestone pebbles and cobbles are on the surface of some areas.  Typically, the Brackett soils have a surface layer of friable, light brownish gray clay loam 7 inches thick that has a few soft bodies of calcium carbonate.  Typically, the Real soils have a surface layer of friable, dark graying brown, gravelly clay loam about 8 inches thick.  The ecological site for this soil is Steep Adobe PE 31-44.

 

Research Possibilities

 

The property’s variety of healthy habitats, particularly the riparian woodlands, would lend itself to a wide variety of research projects.  Golden-cheeked Warblers have been observed on the property by the landowner, and the habitat is certainly suitable for this and other neo-tropical songbirds. 

 

The property has several interesting botanical features, including a good population of nodding Ladies’ tresses, many bumelia trees in upland areas, and a large number of Texas madrone trees in a variety of habitat types. 

 

The lack of grazing pressure over the last three decades has resulted in a somewhat diverse herbaceous plant layer.  Deer herbivory exhibited throughout the property is low to moderate throughout the property, with decent recruitment of redbud and escarpment black cherry occurring throughout the tract. 

 

  

Keith Olenick

Senior Wildlife Biologist

Plateau Land & Wildlife Management

October 24, 2006