Five Ecoregions of Texas

What Is An Ecoregion?  Ecoregion – a major ecosystem with distinctive geography, characteristic plants and animals, ecosystems, and receiving uniform solar radiation and moisture  Sometimes called an ecological region or bioregion  Smaller than a biome

Where Are They?  Region 1: Pineywoods  Region 2: Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes  Region 3: Edwards Plateau  Region 4: High Plains  Region 5: Trans Pecos

Region 1 Piney Woods  Climate: Average annual rainfall of 36 to 50 inches is fairly uniformly distributed throughout the year, and humidity and temperatures are typically high.  Soil: Generally acidic and mostly pale to dark gray sands or sandy loams  Elevation: Ranges from 200 to 500 feet above sea level  Geography: Rolling terrain  Vegetation: Pine and oak, tall hardwood forests with scattered areas of cropland, planted pastures, native pastures, and rich bottomlands

Region 2 Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes  Climate: Annual rainfall varies from 30 to 50 inches per year, high humidity and warm temperatures  Soil: Acidic sands and sandy loams, with clays occurring in the river bottoms  Elevation: Nearly level, less than 150 feet above sea level, cut by streams and rivers flowing into the Gulf of Mexico  Geography: B arrier islands along the coast, marshes near bays and estuaries, and prairies  Vegetation: Salt grass, tallgrass prairies, live oak woodlands, mesquite and acacias, oaks scattered along the coast, and tall woodlands in the river bottomlands

Region 3 Edwards Plateau  Climate: Average annual rainfall ranges from 15 to 34 inches.  Soil: Usually shallow with a variety of surface textures, underlain by limestone  Elevation: Ranges from slightly less than 100 feet to over 3,000 feet above sea level  Geography: Many springs, stony hills, and steep canyons and caves; several river systems dissect the surface, creating a rough and well-drained landscape  Vegetation: Grasslands, juniper/oak woodlands, and plateau live oak or mesquite savannah

Region 4 High Plains  Climate: Extended droughts have occurred several times this century.  Soil: Surface texture of soils ranges from clays in the North to sands in the South; caliche underlies these surface soils at depths of two to five feet.  Elevation: ranges from 3,000 to 4,500 feet above sea level  Geography: Relatively level high plateau  Vegetation: Mostly irrigated cropland; native vegetation includes mesquite and juniper

Region 5 Trans Pecos  Climate: 9–15 inches of rain; semi-arid, warm, dry winters  Soil: Generally shallow, saline, and unproductive  Elevation: 2,000 feet to mountain ranges. Highest peak is 8,751 feet above sea level.  Geography: Salt basins, sand hills, rugged plateaus, mountain slopes  Vegetation: Desert grassland, desert scrub, coniferous and mixed hardwood forests at mountain peaks