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Ecosystem Management of the Texas A&M Range Area

Corbin Abshier

Word Count: 2437

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INTRODUCTION

History

The Texas Range Area has been a part of Texas A&M University since 1946 at which

time the site was approximately 1,200 acres. When acquired by Texas A&M, this land

was eroded and it was cultivated prior to Texas A&M acquisition, and overgrazed. Since

1946 when the Range Area was given to Texas A&M it was used for a variety of

objectives. The Range Area is located on an area that was used to farm cotton because of

the soil richness and the location close to the Brazos River. During this time the land was

plowed changing the structure of the topsoil. After the agriculture production of cotton

seized to be a factor on the Range Area, cattle grazed the land for a long period ultimately

leading to be overgrazed and once again destroying the native vegetation. In 1823 there

wasn’t one piece of the range area that wasn’t being used for grazing cattle or other

animals. The suppression of the natural fire regime has caused the Post-oak Savanna to

become nearly converted to woodland dominated, causing the native grasses and

herbaceous species to disappear in frequency and density.

One major activity the site was used for once Texas A&M became the owner was to train

people on how to use heavy equipment, which caused a large disruption in the soil layers

and in vegetation life. It has also been altered through both ranching and farming studies

by the university. Along with the Heavy Equipment Training, the Easterwood Airfield,

Nuclear Science Center and the TEEX Brayton Fire Training Field have all taken

portions of the once 1,200 acre site down to approximately 700acres (Dean). The primary

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use of the Range Area is now used as an educational resource to a variety to departments

within Texas A&M (Dean).

Issues

The main issues are the threat of a big disturbance happening and losing both the Little

Bluestem Hill and the Oldfield Threeawn Disturbed Site to a state of no return. Long-

term sustainability of the range area is not a condition present, which would cause a

disturbance to destroy the sites. Disruptions that occurred from the previous use of the

range area have caused severe problems to the topsoil, water cycle, and vegetation. At

both the Little Bluestem Hill and Oldfield Threeawn Disturbed Site the heavy equipment

training would push layers of topsoil up to the hill and down to the disturbed site.

Because of the major disruption to the topsoil erosion became a major problem. With

erosion becoming an issue, it also led to an issue with White Creek. Without a solid

topsoil layer no native grasses or herbaceous species can get established allowing

invasive species to take over these sites. Another issue is the loss of fire. With no fire

occurring the invasive species are allowed to dominate the area, which keeps the native

species from ever growing. The loss of fire also leads to more tree growth, and with more

trees the site loses the ability to support grazing animals. To establish long-term

sustainability and resiliency to the Range Area many conditions have to be met first.

Purpose

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This report was constructed to evaluate the current condition of the Range Area and

provide guidelines for restoring and maintaining the site to be resilient to unpredictable

changes.

STUDY AREA DESCRIPTION

Location of Range Area

The Texas A&M Range Area (Fig. 1) is located south of College Station, Texas. It is

bordered by Easterwood Airfield to the north, TEEX Brayton Fire Training Field to the

east, Texas A&M Nuclear Science Center and other landowners (Dean).

Easterwood  Airfield  

TEEX  Brayton  Fire  Training  Field  

Easterwood  Airfield  

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Figure 1. Satellite image showing the borders of the Range Area in yellow and key

features of the Range Area.

Biophysical Description

To the west of the Pineywoods lies the Post Oak Savanna and it mixes with the Blackland

Prairies to the south. The land is gently rolling, with moderately fragmented wooded

plains. “The area covers around 6.85 million acres, and has an average annual rainfall of

30 to 45 inches (Agrilife).” It does not freeze for 235-280 days out of the year, and has an

elevation from 300 to 800 feet above sea level (Agrilife). The peak months of

precipitation occur during the warmth of the year in May and September. It is common to

have either long-term or short-term drought periods. The major soils of the Post Oak

Savanna are Alfisols, Vertisols and Ultisols (Agrilife). Post Oak, Blackjack Oak, and

elms are the dominant tree species of the Range Area. The plant species that are present

on the Range Area are listed in Table 1.

Trees   Grasses   Forbs  

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Post  Oak  Quercus  stellata   Little  Bluestem  

Schizachyrium  scoparium   Yaupon  Holly   Ilex  vomitoria  

Blackjack  Oak  

Quercus  marilandica  

Yellow  Indiangrass  

Sorghastrum  nutans  

American  Beautyberry  

Callicarpa  americana  

Red  Cedar  Juniperus  virginiana   Switchgrass   Panicum  virgatum   Coralberry  

Symphoricarpos  orbiculatus  

Hackberry   Celtis  L.  Longspike  Silver  Bluestem  

Bothriochloa  saccharoides  

Roundleaf  Greenbrier  

Smilax  rotundifolia  

Hickory   Carya  spp.  Florida  Paspalum  

Paspalum  floridanum  

Decidious  Yaupon   Ilex  decidua  

Cedar  Elm  Ulmus  crassifolia  

Texas  Wintergrass  

Nassella  leucotricha  

Western  Ragweed  

Ambrosia  psilostachya  

Honey  Mesquite  

Prosopis  glandulosa   Purpletop   Tridens  flavus   Dove  Weed   Croton  spp.  

Texas  ash  Fraxinus  albicans  

Narrowleaf  Woodoats  

Chasmanthium  sessiliflorum   Prickly  Pear  

Opuntia  polyacantha  

Water  Oak  

Quercus  nigra   Beaked  Panicum   Panicum  anceps  

Bitter  sneezeweed  

Helenium  amarum  

Bald  Cypress  

Taxodium  distichum  

Brownseed  Paspalum  

Paspalum  plicatulum  

Maximilian  sunflower  

Helianthus  maximiliani  

   

Oldfield  Threeawn   Aristida  oligantha  

   

   

Broomsedge  Bluestem  

Andropogon  virginicus    

   

   

Splitbeard  Bluestem  

Andropogon  ternarius  

   

   Rosette  Grass   Dichanthelium  

   

   Lovegrass   Eragrostis  curvula  

   

   Big  Bluestem  

Andropogon  gerardii  

   

   

Purple  Threeawn   Aristida  purpurea  

   

   Virginia  Wildrye   Elymus  virginicus  

   

   Canada  Wildrye  

Elymus  canadensis  

   

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   Wild  Indigo   Baptisia  australis  

   

   Cherokee  sedge  

Carex  cherokeensis  

   

   Chasmanthium  

Chasmanthium  latifolium  

   

   Johnsongrass  

Sorghum  halepense  

   

   Bahiagrass  

Paspalum  notatum  

   Table 1. Plant species identified on the Range Area.

The topography of the range area is typical of the Post Oak Savanna,with rolling

moderately sloped terrain. Some of the site has been altered due to the use of bulldozers,

causing severe topsoil loss & erosion. The Range Area drains into White Creek which

originates on the west campus of Texas A&M. The creek has several issues ranging from

contamination from upstream users, to the loss of river bank stability due to frequent

high-energy flood events. White Creek is considered “dead” because of all the

contaminants that have been washed down from the university, which has caused the

creek to become categorized as mostly covered (White 2). But this was not the case in

earlier years; the creek was dead enough to the factor that no plants would grown

anywhere near the creek. It is said that someone could walk within fifteen feet of the

creek and could smell contaminates that were present in the creek. To help with the

runoff problem brought about by the heavy equipment destruction of the soil layers and

overgrazing degradation, reservoirs have been dug or built to help catch some of the

running water and slow the ground water movement. Many gullies are present on the

Range Area and have had major impacts on upland soil erosion to White Creek. One such

gully is on the northwest corner of the area which was greatly enlarged during the big

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rains of 1957 and 1958, the gully was extended as much as 50 yards farther down and

ranged from five to fifteen feet in depth. To solve the problem of this great amount of soil

loss an abundance of cane was planted in and around the degraded site to help block the

head of the gully (Dean). The soils of the range area are considered to be Alfisols. The

trees of the range area are the post oak, blackjack oak, live oak, elm, water oak, texas ash,

red cedar, and bald cypress. The forbs and herbaceous species are yaupon, deciduous

yaupon, western ragweed, croton, prickly pear, honey mesquite, greenbriar, bitter

sneezeweed and maximilian sunflowers. The grasses that inhabit the range area are little

bluestem, big bluestem, sliptbeard bluestem, broomsedge bluestem, Oldfield Threeawn,

purple threeawn, king ranch bluestem, switch grass, Texas winter grass, long spike silver

bluestem, Virginia wildrye, Canada wildrye, wild indigo, lovegrass, Cherokee sedge,

Chasmanthium, Johnsongrass, bahiagrass, eastern gamagrass and yellow indiangrass

(Agrilife).

Stakeholders

The stakeholders involved with the Range Area is first and foremost is Texas A&M.

Their students take many classes that use the Range Area as an area for education and

research. Easterwood Airfield is also a big stakeholder because if they to expand the

airport they are going to need a piece of land that will come from the Range Area. The

airfield also has interest in what is being done to the Range Area at the present because of

the future possibility of expanding the airfield to have another runway. The Brayton Fire

School is a stakeholder in the range area because runoff from the site contributes to the

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pollution damage to White Creek. Neighboring landowners adjacent to the Range Area

have an important interest because of invasive wildlife (hogs) and trespassers onto the

Range Area (Dean).

FIELD OBSERVATIONS

Data was taken from two different sites on the range area, one from the Little Bluestem

Hill which is east of the pond by the shed, and the other was the Oldfield Threeawn

Disturbed Site which is farther south of the Little Bluestem Hill. The plant cover on both

of these sites historically was disturbed by overgrazing and bulldozing in 1972, causing

the loss of most of the topsoil (Dean).

The first sampling method used was the step-point transect method, which was conducted

by following a straight line from one random starting point. From there we would walk

three steps along the line to reach the next sampling point, and use a pen to push down

into the ground.

Using the step-point transect method to assess vegetative cover (bare ground, rock, litter

or plant crown) on the Little Bluestem Hill we see a very low percentage in bare ground

and rocks. These results show that a majority of the ground cover on Little Bluestem Hill

is either litter or plant crowns (Figure 2). The same data collection method was

conducted on the Oldfield Threeawn site. The results of this show a lower percentage of

plant crowns compared with Little Bluestem Hill. The Oldfield Threeawn site data also

indicates that bare ground is decreasing and plant crowns is increasing which is a sign of

an increasing health of the site (Figure 2).

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Figure 2. Results from the step-point transect method from the Little Bluestem Hill.

0.0%  

10.0%  

20.0%  

30.0%  

40.0%  

50.0%  

60.0%  

70.0%  

2007   2008   2010   2011   2012   2014   2015  

Precent  ground  cover  

Step-­‐point  Transect  Little  Bluestem  Hill  

Bare  ground  

Rock  

Litter  

Plant  Crown  

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Figure 3. Results from the step-point transect method on the Oldfield Threeawn

Disturbed Site.

The second data collection method performed on these sites was the visual estimation of

dry matter standing crop on Little Bluestem Hill and Oldfield Threeawn Area using a

visual estimate from a photo guide. To perform this test one person would thrown an

object in a direct line and then a 0.5m2 quadrat was laid down to be the frame of our data

collection area. This was repeated a total of five times for each of the groups conducting

the test. The results from this data collection method indicate that the Little Bluestem has

continued to increase in lbs/ac over the nine years of testing, while the Oldfield Threeawn

has gone through an increase (Figure 4). These results indicate an increase in the overall

health and vegetative production of the Oldfield Threeawn site.

0.0%  

10.0%  

20.0%  

30.0%  

40.0%  

50.0%  

60.0%  

2007   2008   2010   2011   2012   2014   2015  

Precent  of  ground  cover  

Step-­‐point  Transect  Old;ield  Threeawn  Site  

Bare  ground  

Rock  

Litter  

Plant  Crown  

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Figure 4. Test results from the dry matter estimation test performed on the little bluestem

hill and Oldfield Threeawn disturbed site. No data was recorded for the year 2006.

The resulting health of the banks is considered to be mostly covered and unstable (White

2). The health of White Creek is increasing, but overall it is still not healthy enough to

support substantional animal and plant life. Trash lies along the banks of the creek

making plant establishment difficult. The banks of the creek are severly eroded due to

runoff water from upstream impervious surfaces. Because of the increase in runoff water

the riparian banks have been cut back leaving high vertical banks along the creek.

DISCUSSION

0  

500  

1000  

1500  

2000  

2500  

2006   2007   2008   2010   2011   2012   2014  

lbs/ac  

Dry  Matter  Standing  Crop  

Little  Bluestem  

OldKield  Threeawn  

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The Range Area is an important resource to many stakeholders as a rangeland

management educational site. The desired future condition of the Range Area is to have a

functioning, resilient ecosystem able to withstand changing conditions. To achieve this

objective many invasive plant species need to be removed from the site so the native

plants can grow in abundance and not have so much competing for water. Many areas of

the site have bare ground, which exacerbates erosion. Revegetating bare ground with

native plants will help reduce the erosion and also increase the water infiltration (Hays).

There are many wild hogs that live within the Range Area causing major disruptions to

the site by digging and uprooting many plants. The removal of such hogs by trapping and

hunting is a key to achieving the desired future condition. Renovations need to be made

to serve the needs of the various departments currently suing the Range Area. Two main

projects that need to be completed in order to achieve a more resilient area are; rebuilding

of the exterior fence for livestock experiments, and the roads need to be fixed so access to

all of the range area is accessible at all times.

Revegetation of the areas with bare ground is achievable by using seeding

techniques that will provide the greatest chance of success. But before the seeding of the

bare ground can be done there has to be a replacement of the lost topsoil lost to erosion.

Once the bare ground is growing with native grasses the ground infiltration will increase

to natural levels leading to an overall healthier area. Students and research faculty will

have educational opportunities to learn how the restoration and management activates are

working.

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CONSLUSION

It is possible to achieve the desired goals and conditions of the Range Area..Signs of

increasing health are evident on both the Little Bluestem Hill and the Oldfield Threeawn

Degraded site. An increase in the vegetative production of both the sites over the nine-

year time period is evidence that the Range Area is recovering from past disturbances and

are helping to reduce erosion of the Range Area. However, many challenges

remain,Easterwood Airfield is planning to expand take more land from the Range Area,

the astronomy department plans to expand its observatory which would also take more

land form the Range Area. Though challenges will occur, through the use of proper

ecosystem management, these challenges can be faced and dealt with to ensure the

success of the Range Area.

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LITERATURE CITED

Agrilife Extension. Welcome to the Post Oak Savannah Vegetational Area (area 3)

ESSM

Dean C.N. 1972. Development of the Range Department’s Grazing Land Unit (1000

acres) assigned to the department.

Hays K.B., Rector B.S., White L.D. Increasing Bare Ground Indicates Poor Watershed

Health. Rangeland Watershed Management for Texans.

Loucks C. 1999. East Central Texas Forests 2.2 Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed

Forests. Terrestrail Ecoregions of North America, 196-197

Rector B.S. 2000, Principles of Ecology and Range Management: Are You a Successful

Ecosystem Manager?

White L.D. a, Rector B.S., Hays K.B. Are Your Streams Healthy? Rangeland Watershed

Management for Texas.

White L.D. b, Rector B.S., Hays K.B. Reading Your Landscape: Are Your Pastures

Healthy? Rangeland Watershed Management for Texans.