The East Central Texas forests (33) is a small

temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions. These fo ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

almost entirely within the state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The northern forests perimeter is partially within the southeast

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

border.

Description

East Central Texas forests are distinguished from the adjacent Texas blackland prairies and

Western Gulf coastal grasslands The Western Gulf coastal grasslands ( es, Pastizales costeros del Golfo Occidental) are a subtropical grassland ecoregion of the southern United States and northeastern Mexico. It is known in Louisiana as the "Cajun Prairie", Texas as "Coastal ...

by their greater tree density. On the other hand, they are more open and have a greater concentration of

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

s than the forests of the

Piney Woods The Piney Woods is a temperate coniferous forest terrestrial ecoregion in the Southern United States covering of East Texas, southern Arkansas, western Louisiana, and southeastern Oklahoma. These coniferous forests are dominated by several spec ...

. The climate is hot and humid.

Subregions

Northern Post Oak Savanna

The landscapes of this ecoregion are generally more level and gently rolling compared to the more dissected and irregular topography of much of Southern Post Oak Savanna. It is underlain by mostly

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

and

Paleocene The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), E ...

-age formations with some

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

rocks to the north. The deciduous forest or woodland is composed mostly of

post oak ''Quercus stellata'', the post oak or iron oak, is a North American species of oak in the white oak section. It is a slow-growing oak that lives in dry areas on the edges of fields, tops of ridges also grows in poor soils, and is resistant to ro ...

blackjack oak ''Quercus marilandica'', the blackjack oak, is a small oak, one of the red oak group ''Quercus'' sect. ''Lobatae''. It is native to the eastern and central United States. Description ''Quercus marilandica'' is a small deciduous tree growing to ...

eastern red cedar ''Juniperus virginiana'', also known as red cedar, eastern red cedar, Virginian juniper, eastern juniper, red juniper, and other local names, is a species of juniper native to eastern North America from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico a ...

, and

black hickory ''Carya texana'', or black hickory, for its dark colored bark, is a North American tree in the walnut family, Juglandaceae. It is endemic to the United States, found primarily in the southern Great Plains and the Lower Mississippi Valley. It is ...

. Prairie openings contained

little bluestem ''Schizachyrium scoparium'', commonly known as little bluestem or beard grass, is a species of North American prairie grass native to most of the contiguous United States (except California, Nevada, and Oregon) as well as a small area north of t ...

and other grasses and forbs. The land cover currently has more improved pasture and less post oak woods and forest than the Southern Post Oak Savanna. Some coniferous trees occur, especially on the transitional boundary with the Tertiary Uplands ecoregion.

Loblolly pine ''Pinus taeda'', commonly known as loblolly pine, is one of several pines native to the Southeastern United States, from East Texas to Florida, and north to southern New Jersey. The wood industry classifies the species as a southern yellow pine. ...

has been planted in several areas. Typical wildlife species include

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

eastern wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey, which was originally de ...

northern bobwhite The northern bobwhite (''Colinus virginianus''), also known as the Virginia quail or (in its home range) bobwhite quail, is a ground-dwelling bird native to Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Cuba, with introduced populations elsewhere in th ...

eastern fox squirrel The fox squirrel (''Sciurus niger''), also known as the eastern fox squirrel or Bryant's fox squirrel, is the largest species of tree squirrel native to North America. Despite the differences in size and coloration, it is sometimes mistaken for ...

, and

eastern gray squirrel The eastern gray squirrel (''Sciurus carolinensis''), also known, particularly outside of North America, as simply the grey squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus''. It is native to eastern North America, where it is the most prodi ...

Southern Post Oak Savanna

This ecoregion has more woods and forest than the adjacent prairie ecoregions, and consists of mostly hardwoods compared to the pines to the east in the South Central Plains. Historically a post oak

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

, current land cover is a mix of

woods, improved pasture, and rangeland, with some invasive mesquite to the south. A thick understory of

yaupon ''Ilex vomitoria'', commonly known as yaupon () or yaupon holly, is a species of holly that is native to southeastern North America. The word ''yaupon'' was derived from the Catawban ''yą́pą'', from ''yą-'' tree + ''pą'' leaf. Another commo ...

and

eastern redcedar ''Juniperus virginiana'', also known as red cedar, eastern red cedar, Virginian juniper, eastern juniper, red juniper, and other local names, is a species of juniper native to eastern North America from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico ...

occurs in some parts. The ecoregion is underlain by

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

, and

sediments. Sand exposures within these Tertiary deposits have a distinctive sandyland flora, and in a few areas unique bogs occur. The endangered

Houston Toad The Houston toad (''Anaxyrus houstonensis''), formerly ''Bufo houstonensis'', is an endangered species of amphibian that is endemic to Texas in the United States. This toad was discovered in the late 1940s and named in 1953. It was the first am ...

is associated with the deep sandy soils of this ecoregion

San Antonio Prairie

This ecoregion is a narrow, 100-mile long region occurring primarily on the

Cook Mountain Formation The Cook Mountain Formation is a geologic formation in Alabama. It preserves fossils dating back to the Paleogene period. See also * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Alabama * Paleontology in Alabama Paleontology in Alabama refers ...

. Upland Alfisol prairies were dominated by

and yellow indiangrass and contained a different mix of grasses and forbs than the dark, clayey, more calcareous soils of the Northern Texas blackland prairies. Since the 1830s, settlement clustered along the Old San Antonio Road (

Texas State Highway 21 State Highway 21 (SH 21) runs from the Texas-Louisiana boundary east of San Augustine to San Marcos in east and central Texas. SH 21 mostly follows the alignment of the Old San Antonio Road and the El Camino Real, except for the portion bet ...

in the south,

Old San Antonio Road The Old San Antonio Road was a historic roadway located in the U.S. states of Texas and Louisiana. Parts of it were based on traditional Native American trails. Its Texas terminus was about southeast of Eagle Pass at the Rio Grande in Maverick ...

in the north) within this narrow belt of prairie land. Currently, land cover is a mosaic of woodland, improved pasture, rangeland, and some cropland.

Northern Prairie Outliers

The small, disjunct areas of this ecoregion have a blend of characteristics from the Texas blackland prairies and the East Central Texas forests. The northern two outliers, north of the

Sulphur River The Sulphur River is a river in northeast Texas and southwest Arkansas in the United States. Geography The Sulphur River begins at the confluence of its north and south forks forming (following earlier meanders) the northern and southern bounda ...

, occur on

sediments, while south of the river,

and

formations predominate. A mosaic of forest and prairie occurred historically in this and adjacent regions.

Burning Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combusti ...

was important in maintaining grassy openings, and woody invasions have taken place in the absence of fire. The tallgrass prairies included

big bluestem ''Andropogon gerardi'', commonly known as big bluestem, is a species of tall grass native to much of the Great Plains and grassland regions of central and eastern North America. It is also known as tall bluestem, bluejoint, and turkeyfoot. Taxon ...

, yellow indiangrass, and tall dropseed. Current land cover is mostly pasture, with some cropland.

Bastrop Lost Pines

Endangered Houston toad (Bufo houstonensis)1

This ecoregion is an outlier of relict

loblolly pine ''Pinus taeda'', commonly known as loblolly pine, is one of several pines native to the Southeastern United States, from East Texas to Florida, and north to southern New Jersey. The wood industry classifies the species as a southern yellow pine. ...

upland forest occurring on some dissected hills. It is the westernmost tract of southern pine in the United States. The pines mostly occur on gravelly soils that formed in

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

high gravel,

fluvial In geography and geology, fluvial processes are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them. When the stream or rivers are associated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, the term glaciofluvial or fluviog ...

terrace deposits associated with the ancestral

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

, and sandy soils that formed in

sandstones Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) b ...

(such as the

Weches Formation The Weches Formation is a greensand, slay, and shale geologic formation in Louisiana and Eastern Texas. It preserves fossils dating back to the Paleogene period, specifically the Eocene. Description The Weches Formation is a fossiliferous glauc ...

). The Lost Pines are about west of the Texas pine belt of the South Central Plains and occur in a drier environment with of average annual precipitation. In this area, the deep, acidic, sandy soils and the additional moisture provided by the Colorado River contribute to the occurrence of pines, which are thought to be a relict population predating the last glacial period. The largest population of the

occurs in this ecoregion

Floodplains and Low Terraces

This ecoregion contains floodplain and low terrace deposits downstream from the Texas blackland prairies and upstream from the Texas coastal plains. It includes only the wider floodplains of major streams, such as the

Sulphur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

, Brazos, and

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

rivers. In addition, it covers primarily

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...

deposits and not

deposits on older, high terraces. The bottomland forests contain

water oak ''Quercus nigra'', the water oak, is an oak in the red oak group (''Quercus'' sect. ''Lobatae''), native to the eastern and south-central United States, found in all the coastal states from New Jersey to Texas, and inland as far as Oklahoma, Kent ...

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

green ash ''Fraxinus pennsylvanica'', the green ash or red ash, is a species of ash native to eastern and central North America, from Nova Scotia west to southeastern Alberta and eastern Colorado, south to northern Florida, and southwest to Oklahoma and e ...

pecan The pecan (''Carya illinoinensis'') is a species of hickory native to the southern United States and northern Mexico in the region of the Mississippi River. The tree is cultivated for its seed in the southern United States, primarily in Georgia, ...

willow oak ''Quercus phellos'', the willow oak, is a North American species of a deciduous tree in the red oak group of oaks. It is native to the south-central and eastern United States. Description It is a medium-sized tree growing to tall (exceptional ...

to the east, and to the west some hackberry and

eastern cottonwood ''Populus deltoides'', the eastern cottonwood or necklace poplar, is a cottonwood poplar native to North America, growing throughout the eastern, central, and southwestern United States as well as the southern Canadian prairies, the southernm ...

s. The northern floodplains tend to have more forested land cover, while in the south the Brazos and Colorado River floodplains are characterized by more cropland and pasture.

Fauna

The forests are home to a rich wildlife including

Virginia opossum The Virginia opossum (''Didelphis virginiana''), also known as the North American opossum, is the only opossum living north of Mexico, its range extending south into Central America. It is the northernmost marsupial in the world. In the United S ...

s (''Didelphis virginiana''),

North American least shrew The North American least shrew (''Cryptotis parvus'') is one of the smallest mammals, growing to be only up to 3 inches long. It has a long pointed snout and a tail never more than twice the length of its hind foot. The dense fur coat is e ...

s (''Cryptotis parva''),

North American beaver The North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') is one of two Extant taxon, extant beaver species, along with the Eurasian beaver (''Castor fiber''). It is native to North America and introduced in South America (Patagonia) and Europe (primari ...

s (''Castor canadensis'') and many species of butterflies and reptiles. Larger mammals that once lived here, including

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

(''Panthera onca'') and

Plains bison The Plains bison (''Bison bison bison'') is one of two subspecies/ecotypes of the American bison, the other being the wood bison (''B. b. athabascae''). A natural population of Plains bison survives in Yellowstone National Park (the Yellowstone ...

(''Bison bison bison''), have now disappeared from the region. Endangered fauna found in this ecoregion include the

Houston toad The Houston toad (''Anaxyrus houstonensis''), formerly ''Bufo houstonensis'', is an endangered species of amphibian that is endemic to Texas in the United States. This toad was discovered in the late 1940s and named in 1953. It was the first am ...

(''Bufo houstonensis'') and

Attwater's prairie chicken Attwater's prairie chicken (''Tympanuchus cupido attwateri'') is a highly endangered subspecies of the greater prairie chicken that is native to coastal Texas and formerly Louisiana in the United States. Description Attwater's prairie chicken me ...

s (''Tympanuchus cupido attwateri'').

Conservation

This environment has been heavily altered by cattle ranching and clearance for farmland with only a quarter of the original habitats remaining, in fragmented patches and not in large blocks. There are no national forests in the region.

East Central Texas forests gallery

File:Oaks trees (Quercus) and wildflowers, Nockenut Road, Guadalupe County, Texas, USA (6 October 2018).jpg, Oaks trees (''

Quercus An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably '' ...

'') and wildflowers, Nockenut Road, Guadalupe County, Texas, USA (6 October 2018). File:Southern Post Oak Savannah habitat, Newberg Road, Austin County, Texas, USA (15 March 2014).jpg, Southern Post Oak Savannah habitat, Newberg Road, Austin County, Texas, USA (15 March 2014). File:Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Kuykend Road, Austin County, Texas, USA (30 January 2014).jpg, Wild Turkey (''

Meleagris gallopavo The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey, which was originally de ...

'') Kuykend Road, Austin County, Texas, USA (30 January 2014). File:Weishuhn Road (looking north), Colorado County, Texas, USA (30 January 2014).jpg, Southern Post Oak Savannah, Weishuhn Road (looking north), Colorado County, Texas, USA (30 January 2014). File:Weishuhn Road (looking south), Colorado County, Texas, USA (30 January 2014).jpg, Southern Post Oak Savannah, Weishuhn Road (looking south), Colorado County, Texas, USA (30 January 2014). File:Texas spiny lizard (Sceloporus olivaceus) basking on a fencepost, Highway 102, Colorado County, Texas, USA (26 March 2017).jpg, Texas spiny lizard ('' Sceloporus olivaceus'') on a fencepost, Highway. 102, Colorado County, Texas, USA (26 March 2017). File:Lake Summerville State Park. Lee County, Texas, USA (11 May 2017).jpg, Lake Somerville State Park. Lee County, Texas, USA (11 May 2017). File:Lake Summerville State Park, Flag Pond area, Lee County, Texas, USA (11 May 2017).jpg, Lake Somerville State Park, Flag Pond area, Lee County, Texas, USA (11 May 2017). File:Lake Somerville State Park, Lee County, Texas, USA (3 May 2019).jpg, Lake Somerville State Park, Lee County, Texas, USA (3 May 2019). File:Nails Creek, Somerville Public Hunting Lands, Lee County, Texas, USA (29 April 2017).jpg, Nails Creek, Somerville Public Hunting Lands, Lee County, Texas, USA (29 April 2017). File:Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), male right, female left, Colorado County, Texas, USA (17 March 2017).jpg, Northern Bobwhite (''

Colinus virginianus The northern bobwhite (''Colinus virginianus''), also known as the Virginia quail or (in its home range) bobwhite quail, is a ground-dwelling bird native to Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Cuba, with introduced populations elsewhere in th ...

''), male right, female left, Colorado County, Texas, USA (17 March 2017). File:Road in Northern Post Oak Savanna, Gus Engeling Wildlife Management Area, Anderson County, Texas, USA (15 April 2017).jpg, Road in Northern Post Oak Savanna,

Gus Engeling Wildlife Management Area The Gus Engeling Wildlife Management Area is located in Central Texas, 21 miles from Palestine, Texas Palestine ( ) is a city in and the seat of Anderson County in the U.S. state of Texas. It was named for Palestine, Illinois, by preacher Dan ...

, Anderson County, Texas, USA (15 April 2017). File:Northern Post Oak Savanna, Gus Engeling Wildlife Management Area, Anderson County, Texas, USA (15 April 2017).jpg, Northern Post Oak Savanna,

, Anderson County, Texas, USA (15 April 2017). File:Little Bear Creek, private land near Buda, Hays County, Texas, USA. (21 October 2010).jpg, Little Bear Creek, private land near Buda, Hays County, Texas, USA. (21 October 2010). File:Signs of beaver (Castor canadensis) activity, private land, Madison County, Texas, USA. (12 March 2010).jpg, Signs of beaver (''

Castor canadensis The North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') is one of two extant beaver species, along with the Eurasian beaver (''Castor fiber''). It is native to North America and introduced in South America (Patagonia) and Europe (primarily Finland and ...

'') activity, gnawed tree trunk (lower left) and burrowing in stream bank. Private land, Madison County, Texas, USA. (12 March 2010).

References

{{Reflist Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in the United States Ecoregions of the United States Nearctic ecoregions