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The Nature Conservancy in Africa - Conservation in Africa

The Nature Conservancy in Asia Pacific - Conservation in Asia-Pacific

The Nature Conservancy in the Caribbean - Conservation in the Caribbean

The Nature Conservancy in Central America - Conservation in Central America

The Nature Conservancy in North America - Conservation in North America

The Nature Conservancy in the United States - Conservation in the United States

The Nature Conservancy in South America - Conservation in South America

The Coastal Tallgrass Prairie

© Earl Nottingham/Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Attwater's prairie chickens will remain in pens such as this one to get acclimated to their new surroundings before they are released into the wild. The pen shown here stands amid the Goliad Prairie in South Texas, a 60,000-acre expanse of unplowed native prairie on private ranchland. © Earl Nottingham/Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

The tallgrass prairie is a relatively treeless native grassland containing key grass species and a diversity of forbs, or broadleaf wildflowers. Texas and Louisiana coastal prairie is similar to the greater tallgrass prairie of the eastern Great Plains, containing most of same key species. It is somewhat more diverse, however, and includes some subtropical grass species also found in Latin America.
 
The virgin, native Goliad and Refugio prairies have not been plowed but they have been grazed – by native grazers, including pronghorn, bison – and by cattle. It is believed that Spanish cattle may have grazed on the coastal prairie as early as the 1500s. Managed grazing is now used to help maintain prairie health.
 
Wildfire was an important part of how prairies originally developed, with periodic lightning-caused fires keeping grasslands open and free from woody species. Native Americans started fires on the prairie, most likely to enhance hunting and grazing. Today, prescribed burning is a key tool for prairie conservation.
 
Coastal prairies also support key animal species. Coastal grasslands are especially important for wintering birds, with almost all grassland bird species now in decline.

© Barry Smith, Carolyn Fannon, Wade Harrell
l to r: burrowing owl © Barry Smith, gayfeather © Carolyn Fannon, turkeys © Wade Harrell

 

 

 

 

Coastal Prairie Plants

• little bluestem
• big bluestem
• switch grass
• Indian grass
• windmill grass
• sensitive briar and other native legumes
• gayfeather
• various native sunflowers
• coneflower
• Englemann daisy

Coastal Prairie Animals

• bobwhite quail
• turkey
• burrowing owl
• LeConte’s sparrow
• Savannah sparrows
• white-tailed hawk
• sedge wren
• eastern meadowlark
• pocket gopher
• white-tailed deer
• bobcats
• coyotes
• ringtail
• badger