ECOREGIONS OF TEXAS CORNELL NOTES WITH MAP

ECOREGIONS MAP

PINEYWOODS (1) CLIMATE – ANNUAL RAINFALL: 36-50 inches. Humidity and temperature are typically high. SOIL – Generally acidic and mostly pale to dark gray sands or sandy loams. ELEVATION – 200-500 ft. above sea level GEOGRAPHY – Swamps and forests VEGETATION – pine and pine-hardwood forests with cropland and pastures.

OAK WOODS AND PRAIRIES (2) CLIMATE – ANNUAL RAINFALL: 28-40 INCHES SOIL – Light colored, acidic sandy loam or sands ELEVATION – 300-800 ft. above sea level GEOGRAPHY – gently rolling to hilly VEGETATION – Oak forest crossing strips of prairie grasslands

BLACKLAND PRAIRIES (3) CLIMATE – ANNUAL RAINFALL: 28-40 in. per year SOIL – uniformly dark colored alkaline clay ELEVATION – 300-800 ft. above sea level GEOGRAPHY – tall grass prairie VEGETATION – tall growing grasses

GULF COAST PRAIRIES AND MARSHES (4) CLIMATE – ANNUAL RAINFALL: 30-50 in per year. SOIL – acidic sands and sandy loams with clays occurring primarily in the river bottoms ELEVATION – less than 150 ft. GEOGRAPHY – barrier islands along the coast, salt grass marshes, prairies, and woodlands VEGETATION – tall grass prairies and live oak woodlands. Mesquite and acacias are more common now.

SOUTH TEXAS PLAINS (5) CLIMATE – ANNUAL RAINFALL: 20-32 in. per year. SOIL – Alkaline to slightly acidic clays and clay loams ELEVATION – less than 1000 ft. GEOGRAPHY – Plains and subtropical woodlands VEGETATION – thorny brush like mesquite and prickly pear mixed with grasslands

EDWARDS PLATEAU (6) CLIMATE – ANNUAL RAINFALL: 15-34 in. per year. SOIL – shallow ELEVATION – 150-3000 ft. GEOGRAPHY – River systems on the surface creating rough landscape VEGETATION – grasslands, juniper/oak woodlands and plateau live or mesquite savannah.

LLANO UPLIFT (7) CLIMATE – ANNUAL RAINFALL: 24-32 in. per year. SOIL – Coarse textured sands, produced from weathered granite over thousands of years. ELEVATION – 825-2250 ft. GEOGRAPHY – large granite domes VEGETATION – oak-hickory or oak-juniper woodlands, mesquite-mixed brush savannah, and grasslands.

ROLLING PLAINS (8) CLIMATE – ANNUAL RAINFALL: 20-28 in. per year. Dry summers with high temperatures and high evaporation rates SOIL – Shale and coarse sand ELEVATION – 800-3000 ft. GEOGRAPHY – rolling hills and broad flats VEGETATION – Short grasses and mesquite savannah.

HIGH PLAINS (9) CLIMATE – ANNUAL RAINFALL: 15-22 in. per year. Extended droughts SOIL – Clays and sands ELEVATION – 3000-4500 ft. GEOGRAPHY – Level plateau VEGETATION – Shortgrass prairie dominated by buffalo grass.

TRANS PECOS/MOUNTAINS AND BASINS (10) CLIMATE – ANNUAL RAINFALL: Less than 12 in. per year. SOIL – Sand and caliche ELEVATION – 2500-8749 ft. GEOGRAPHY – Desert valleys and plateaus to wooded mountain tops VEGETATION – Creosote desert shrub, desert grassland, yucca and juniper savannah, and pinon or oak forest.