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Sabal Palm Sanctuary
The Sabal Palm Sanctuary is a nature reserve and bird sanctuary located in the delta of the Rio Grande Valley in Cameron County near Brownsville, Texas. It is noted for being one of the last locations in the Rio Grande Valley with a profuse grove of sabal palms, an edible-heart-bearing palm much prized by pre-Hispanic inhabitants and noted by early explorers. As a relatively habitat-rich remnant of this Valley, it is a prized birdwatching and butterfly watching location for persons interested in the ecology of the Valley and adjacent states of northern Mexico. The Sabal Palm Sanctuary closely approaches the southernmost point in the state of Texas, and is the southernmost point accessible to the public. History and current status The Sanctuary occupies a parcel of the former Rabb Plantation, a 19th-century sugarcane plantation on the bank of the Rio Grande - at that time, a river deep enough to float light steamboats. The plantation's produce was shipped directly from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cameron County, Texas
Cameron County, officially the County of Cameron, is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 421,017. Its county seat is Brownsville. The county was founded in 1848 and is named for Captain Ewen Cameron, a soldier during the Texas Revolution and in the ill-fated Mier Expedition. During the later 19th century and through World War II, Fort Brown was a US Army outpost here, stimulating the development of the city of Brownsville. Cameron County comprises the Brownsville– Harlingen, TX metropolitan statistical area, as well as the Brownsville–Harlingen– Raymondville combined statistical area, which itself is part of the larger Rio Grande Valley region. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (30%) are covered by water. To the east, the county borders the Gulf of Mexico. Major highways * Interstate 2 * Interstate 69E/ U.S. Highway 77 * Interstate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grapefruit
The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The interior flesh is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark pink. Grapefruit is a citrus hybrid originating in Barbados. It is an accidental cross between the sweet orange (''C. sinensis'') and the pomelo or shaddock (''C. maxima''), both of which were introduced from Asia in the 17th century. It has also been called the ''forbidden fruit''. In the past it was referred to as the ''pomelo'', but that term is now mostly used as the common name for ''Citrus maxima''. In 2019, world production of grapefruits (combined with pomelos) was 9.3 million tonnes, of which 53% was in China. Other significant producers include Vietnam, United States and Mexico. Description The evergreen grapefruit trees usually grow to around tall, although they may reach . The leaves are long (up to ), thin, glossy, and dark green. They produc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nature Reserves In Texas
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are part of nature, human activity is often understood as a separate category from other natural phenomena. The word ''nature'' is borrowed from the Old French ''nature'' and is derived from the Latin word ''natura'', or "essential qualities, innate disposition", and in ancient times, literally meant "birth". In ancient philosophy, ''natura'' is mostly used as the Latin translation of the Greek word ''physis'' (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics of plants, animals, and other features of the world to develop of their own accord. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protected Areas Of Cameron County, Texas
Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although the mechanisms for providing protection vary widely, the basic meaning of the term remains the same. This is illustrated by an explanation found in a manual on electrical wiring: Some kind of protection is a characteristic of all life, as living things have evolved at least some protective mechanisms to counter damaging environmental phenomena, such as ultraviolet light. Biological membranes such as bark on trees and skin on animals offer protection from various threats, with skin playing a key role in protecting organisms against pathogens and excessive water loss. Additional structures like scales and hair offer further protection from the elements and from predators, with some animals having features such as spines or camouflage servin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge
The Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located in the Lower Rio Grande Valley region of southern Texas. It is along the northern banks and reaches of the Lower Rio Grande, north of the Mexico—United States international border. Ecology Only 5% of the native riparian, floodplain, and wetland habitats remain along the lower Rio Grande and its local tributaries, but the diversity within these fragments adds up to a significant 1,200 species of native plants, 700 species of vertebrates (including nearly 500 bird species), and 300 species of butterflies. Eleven different biological communities exist on the National Wildlife Refuge, from the Chihuahuan Desert thorn forest to tidal wetlands. Wildlife includes the rare ocelot, crested caracara, Mexican bluewing butterfly, great kiskadee, red-billed pigeon, Altamira oriole, ringed kingfisher, and green jay The green jay (''Cyanocorax luxuosus'') is a species of the New World jays ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amazilia Yucatanensis
The buff-bellied hummingbird (''Amazilia yucatanensis'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Belize, Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip retrieved August 7, 2022 Taxonomy and systematics The buff-bellied hummingbird has three subspecies, the nominate ''A. y. yucatanensis'', ''A. y. chalconota'', and ''A. y. cerviniventris''. Description The buff-bellied hummingbird is long and weighs . Adult males have a rosy reddish bill that is dusky at the end; females' have more dark on the maxilla. Adult males of the nominate subspecies have metallic bronze green upperparts that are duller and darker on the crown. Their uppertail coverts are a mix o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coccyzus Americanus
The yellow-billed cuckoo (''Coccyzus americanus'') is a cuckoo. Common folk-names for this bird in the southern United States are rain crow and storm crow. These likely refer to the bird's habit of calling on hot days, often presaging rain or thunderstorms. The genus name is from Ancient Greek , which means to call like a common cuckoo, and ''americana'' means "of America". Taxonomy The yellow-billed cuckoo was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it with all the other cuckoos in the genus ''Cuculus'' and coined the binomial name ''Cuculus americanus''. Linnaeus based his description on the "Cuckow of Carolina" that had been described and illustrated in 1729-1732 by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his ''The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands''. The yellow-billed cuckoo is now placed with 12 other species in the genus ''Coccyzus'' that was introduced in 1816 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Butterfly Gardening
Butterfly gardening is a way to create, improve, and maintain habitat for lepidopterans including butterflies, skippers, and moths. Butterflies have four distinct life stages—egg, larva, chrysalis, and adult. In order to support and sustain butterfly populations, an ideal butterfly garden contains habitat for each life stage. Butterfly larvae, with some exceptions such as the carnivorous harvester (''Feniseca tarquinius''), consume plant matter and can be generalists or specialists. While butterflies like the painted lady (''Vanessa cardui'') are known to consume over 200 plants as caterpillars, other species like the monarch (''Danaus plexippus''), and the regal fritillary (''Speyeria idalia'') only consume plants in one genus, milkweed and violets, respectively. As adults, butterflies feed mainly on nectar, but they have also evolved to consume rotting fruit, tree sap, and even carrion. Supporting nectarivorous adult butterflies involves planting nectar plants of dif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Resaca (channel)
Resaca is the name given to a type of oxbow lake in the southern half of Cameron County, Texas. The resacas constitute former channels of the Rio Grande and are naturally cut off from the river, having no inlet or outlet. History The Rio Grande's water moves from Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico. Every year during spring, melted snow would flow into the Rio Grande, bringing seasonal flood waters to the most southern tip of Texas. Given the overflow of the river's main and distributary channel banks, the Rio Grande would carve new river channels, ''resacas.'' When the seasonal flooding ended and the river retreated, the newly formed oxbow lakes remained, creating ''resacas'' all throughout the Rio Grande Valley. There are only 5 remaining resacas in Cameron County. Word origins There are two explanations for the origin of the word ''resaca.'' The first explanation holds that it is a contraction of the Spanish phrase ''rio seco'' (dry river). The second explanation is that the wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oxbow Lake
An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are called billabongs. The word "oxbow" can also refer to a U-shaped bend in a river or stream, whether or not it is cut off from the main stream. Geology An oxbow lake forms when a meandering river erodes through the neck of one of its meanders. This takes place because meanders tend to grow and become more curved over time. The river then follows a shorter course that bypasses the meander. The entrances to the abandoned meander eventually silt up, forming an oxbow lake. Because oxbow lakes are stillwater lakes, with no current flowing through them, the entire lake gradually silts up, becoming a bog or swamp and then evaporating completely. When a river reaches a low-lying plain, often in its final course to the sea or a lake, it meanders wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
501(c) Organization
A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the Law of the United States#Federal law, federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exempt from some Taxation in the United States, federal Income tax in the United States, income taxes. Sections 503 through 505 set out the requirements for obtaining such exemptions. Many states refer to Section 501(c) for definitions of organizations exempt from state taxation as well. 501(c) organizations can receive unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, and Labor union, unions. For example, a nonprofit organization may be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) if its primary activities are charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering amateur sports competition, or preventing cruelty to Child abuse, children or Animal cruelty, animals. Types According ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gorgas Science Foundation
The Gorgas Science Foundation is a nonprofit foundation based in South Texas established to support conservation and education. The mission of Gorgas Science Foundation is to provide the highest quality educational opportunities, to foster greater awareness and understanding of ecological issues, and to encourage conservation of critical natural resources. History The foundation was started in 1947 and incorporated in 1983 by Texas Southmost College biology professor Barbara T. Warburton. The name honors pioneering research scientist Dr. William Crawford Gorgas who served at Fort Brown in the 19th century. Rio Grande Valley In collaboration with the Audubon Society, the foundation operates the Sabal Palm Sanctuary in Brownsville, Texas. In 1994 the Gorgas Foundation produced the 18 volume "Treasures of the Rio Grande Delta" documentary that focused on the history and habitat of the region. In 2010 the foundation published the bilingual Spanish and English ''El Valle: The R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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