2018 Texas Envirothon

Coastal Prairie Management and Conservation

Background Information

Key Topics

• What is a coastal prairie?
• History of coastal prairie in Texas
• Multiple uses of coastal prairie
• Coastal prairie management—principles, strategies and tools
• Prairie conservation
• Prairie restoration, seed harvesting and storage
• Wetlands and flood management—the role of coastal prairie
• Species recognition
• Impact of loss of wild spaces, e.g., Nature Deficient Disorder
• How can coastal prairie management be used to maintain a balanced plant community to support livestock, Attwater's prairie chicken, as well as other wildlife and land uses?
• How can coastal prairie managers balance livestock production (grazing) with the maintenance of water quality?

Learning Objectives

• Characteristics (biotic and abiotic) and location of coastal prairie in the Western Gulf region and how it is currently managed.
• Demonstrate knowledge of how abiotic and biotic factors affect prairie conditions/health and strategies and tools that promote sustainable coastal prairies.
• Describe the various entities responsible for managing coastal prairies—private, state and federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
• Ways to protect water quality within coastal prairie management.
• Demonstrate knowledge of grazing systems and how grazing is used as an effective management tool to reduce the spread and impact of noxious weeds, reduce catastrophic wildfires, and improve wildlife habitat.
• Demonstrate knowledge of coastal prairie plants, including identification, growth form, life span, season of growth, origin, and forage value.
• How different ecosystems (wetland, riparian, and upland areas) within the grasslands interact.
• How the use of the land by humans, domestic livestock, and wildlife affects the plant community.
• Demonstrate an understanding of multiple use on prairie (social, economic and ecological values).
• The rights of private landowners and citizens’ related to public land.

• Urban Pocket Prairies
• Blackland Prairie: Guide to 100 Common Species
• Grasslands
• Native American Seed (native grasses)
• Prairie Systems Atlas
• Southeastern Grasslands Initiative
• Paradise Lost? The Coastal Prairie of Louisiana and Texas
• Prairie Rising: The Ecology and Restoration of a Local Coastal Tallgrass Prairie
• Healing Prairies with Fire & Cows
• Why Prairie Matters—New Relevancies of a Vanishing Landscape
• The Last Stand: Saving the Coastal Prairie
• America's Grasslands: A Threatened National Treasure
• Preserving the Tallgrass Prairie
• Building Infrastructure for Collaboration: The Deer Park Story

Recommended Reading

• Coastal Prairie and Pothole Wetlands
• The McCartney Rose
• The Thirsty Tree: Confronting Invasive Salt Cedar in the American Southwest
• The Constant Gardeners
• Invasive Species: Chinese Tallow Tree
• Invasive Species: King Ranch Bluestem
• Prairies as Placeholders
• Attwaters Prairie-Chicken
• How Hurricane Harvey Affected Birds and Their Habitats in Texas

Key Topics

• What are rangelands?
• History of rangelands
• Multiple uses of rangelands (social, economic, and ecological values)
• Rangeland management (principles, strategies, and tools)
• Becoming a range professional

Learning Objectives

• Describe the biotic and abiotic characteristics of rangeland biomes.
• Discuss rangeland history and how it influences decisions today.
• Describe the various entities responsible for managing rangeland -private, state and federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
• Demonstrate an understanding of multiple use on rangeland (social, economic and ecological values).
• Demonstrate knowledge of rangeland plants (including identification, growth form, life span, season of growth, origin, and forage value).
• Demonstrate knowledge of grazing systems.
• Demonstrate knowledge of how abiotic and biotic factors affect range conditions/health and strategies and tools that promote sustainable rangelands.
• Demonstrate awareness of career opportunities in rangeland ecology and management.

• Rangelands: Wild Open Spaces for All 2018 Study Guide
• Additional Resources on Rangeland Management
• Life on the Range (videos)