Ecoregions of Texas

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Ecoregions of Texas
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What Is An Ecoregion?

• Ecoregion- a major area with distinctive
  landforms, characteristic plants and animals, and
  receives uniform solar radiation and
  precipitation
• Smaller than a biome

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Where Are They?

• Region 1 Pineywoods
• Region 2 Prairies and Lakes
• Cross Timbers/Oak Woods and Prairies,Blackland
  Prairies
• Region 3 Gulf Coast
• Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes,Coastal Sand
  Plains
• Region 6 South Texas Brush Country

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• Region 4 South Texas Plains
• South Texas Brush Country
• Region 5 Hill Country
• Edwards Plateau,Llano Uplift
• Region 6 Panhandle Plains
• Rolling Plains,High Plains
• Region 7 Big Bend
• Trans Pecos

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Region 1

• Piney Woods
• Climate average annual rainfall of 36-50 inches
  is fairly uniformly distributed throughout the
  year, and humidity and temperatures are typically
  high
• Soil generally acidic
• Geography rolling terrain
• Vegetation pine and oak tall hardwood forests,
  timber and cattle production are important
  industries, swamps are common in southern part

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Piney Woods
Caddo Lake Athens Tyler Palestine Rusk
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• Region 2
• Prairies and Lakes

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Region 2

• Cross Timbers or Oak Woods Prairies
• Climate Average annual rainfall averages 28-40
  inches per year
• Soil Upland soils are light colored, acidic
  sandy loam or sands. Bottomland soils may be
  light brown to dark gray and acidic with textures
  ranging from sandy loams to clays
• Geography gently rolling to hilly terrain
• Vegetation patches of oak woodland alternate
  with grassland, cattle ranching is major industry

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• Blackland Prairies
• Climate average annual rainfall ranges from
  28-48 inches. May is the peak rainfall month for
  the northern end of the region however, the
  south-central part has a fairly uniform rainfall
  throughout the year.
• Soil soils are uniformly dark-colored alkaline
  clays
• Geography gently rolling to nearly level terrain
• Vegetation Rich fertile soils produce food and
  forage crops, crop production and cattle ranching
  are main industries

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Oak Woods, Prairies Blackland Prairies
Waco, Dallas, Lake Dallas, Killeen, College
Station, Huntsville
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• Region 3
• Gulf Coast

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• Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes
• Climate annual rainfall varies from 30-50 inches
  per year, high humidity and warm temperatures
• Soil acidic sands and sandy loams, with clays
  occurring in the river bottoms
• Geography barrier islands along the coast,
  marshes near bays and estuaries, and prairies
• Vegetation salt grass, tallgrass prairies, live
  oak woodlands, important habitat for migratory
  birds and spawning areas for fish and shrimp

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• Coastal Sand Plains
• Climate Average annual rainfall is 24-28 inches
  per year
• Soil primarily windblown
• Geography windblown sands and unstable dunes
  with grasslands, stands of oak, and salt marshes
• Vegetation tallgrass prairie with live oak
  woodlands, mesquite savannah, and salt marshes,
  formerly known as Wild Horse Prairie now it is
  mostly grazed by cattle

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Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes
Padre Island Brownsville Houston Corpus
Christi Galveston
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• Region 4
• South Texas Plains

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• South Texas Brush Country
• Climate average annual rainfall of 20-32 inches
  increases from west to east. Summer temperatures
  are high, with very high evaporation rates
• Geography flat plains to gently rolling terrain
• Vegetation thorny shrubs, trees, and cactus
  scattered with patches of palms and subtropical
  woodlands, home to many species of wildlife from
  Mexico to grasslands and deserts

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South Texas Brush Country
Laredo, San Antonio
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• Region 5
• Hill Country

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• Edwards Plateau
• Climate average annual rainfall ranges from
  15-34 inches
• Soil usually shallow with a variety of surface
  textures, underlain by limestone
• 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,
  ranching is main industry

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• Llano Uplift
• Climate averages about 24-32 inches per year
• Soil coarse textured sands, produced from
  weathered granite over thousands of years
• Geography some of the oldest rocks in Texas, the
  region contains unique minerals and rock
  formations and large granite domes( Enchanted
  Rock near Fredricksburg) hilly to rolling
  landscape
• Vegetation oak-hickory or oak-juniper woodlands,
  mesquite-mixed brush savannah, and grasslands

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Edwards PlateauLlano Uplift
Austin Bastrop San Marcos Round-Rock
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• Region 6
• Panhandle Plains

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• Rolling Plains
• Climate average annual rainfall is 20-28 inches
  dry summers with high temperatures and high
  evaporation rates
• Soil vary from coarse sands along outwash
  terraces by streams, to clays and shales
• Geography gently rolling hills and broad flats
  are cut by several rivers and their tributaries
• Vegetation mesquite and shortgrass savannah
  various hardwood species along streams, juniper
  on steep slopes along rivers

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• 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 3,000-4,500 feet above sea
  level
• Geography relatively level high plateau
• Vegetation mostly irrigated cropland native
  vegetation includes mesquite and juniper

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Panhandle Plains
Amarillo, Wichita Falls, Lubbock, Abilene
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• Region 7
• Big Bend Country

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• Trans Pecos
• Climate Less than 12 inches of rain semi-arid,
  warm, dry winters
• Soil generally shallow, saline, and unproductive
• Elevation 2,500 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

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Trans Pecos
El Paso, Midland, Odessa
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My Ecoregion

• Which region do you live in?
• Have you ever visited another region?