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 Prairie," and as the Tamaulipan pastizal ( es, Pastizal Tamaulipeco) in Mexico.

Setting

The ecoregion covers an area of , extending along the shore of the Gulf of Mexico from southeastern Louisiana (west of the

Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo ...

) through Texas and into the Mexican state of Tamaulipas as far as the Laguna Madre. Specific areas include a number of barrier islands, and the '' resacas'' or natural

levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to ...

s of the Laguna Madre. The coast is vulnerable to tropical storms that can seriously damage habitats. This ecosystem is edaphic in origin; the soils in this region are of a heavy clay that contributed to difficulty for woody species to establish, allowing grasses and herbaceous species to be more competitive. The grassy areas are broken up by many pockets/groves of forest, usually along water courses, or isolated silt/sand pockets among the substrate (where the soil is more permissive for tree growth).

Climate

From Louisiana west to the Upper Texas coast, the climate of the region is wet humid subtropical, featuring high annual rainfall. The climate becomes more arid going down the Texas coast, and into Northeastern Mexico, though precipitation totals still remain high enough for humid subtropical classification.

Flora

The natural habitat of the area is a mix of tallgrass prairie similar to those found in inland Texas, with Indiangrass ('' Sorghastrum nutans''), big bluestem (''

Andropogon gerardi ''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 ...

''), little bluestem ('' Schizachyrium scoparium''), and switchgrass ('' Panicum virgatum'') the primary tallgrass species that are typical of the coastal prairie, with several other shorter grasses and many

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

and woody species. In addition, the region has bottomland forests lining the floodplains of the many waterways in the region. In the wetter regions along the upper Texas coast and Louisiana, the tree species include many of those seen in forest of the Southern United States, such as the southern live oak, bald cypress, magnolia, loblolly pine, post oak, and southern hackberry. The southern third of the Texas stretch and all of the Tamaulipan portion contains shrubby areas of honey mesquite ('' Prosopis glandulosa''), huisache ( ''Vachellia farnesiana'' var. ''farnesiana''), lime prickly-ash (''

Zanthoxylum fagara ''Zanthoxylum fagara'' or wild lime, is a species of flowering plant that—despite its name—is not part of the genus ''Citrus'' with real limes and other fruit, but is a close cousin in the larger citrus family, Rutaceae. It is native to sout ...

''), and Texas persimmon (''

Diospyros texana ''Diospyros texana'' is a species of persimmon that is native to central, south and west Texas and southwest Oklahoma in the United States, and eastern Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico. Common names include ...

'').

Fauna

This coast is rich in wildlife, and 700 species of birds, animals and reptiles have been counted here, although many are now threatened or endangered. This coast is a critical habitat for the Attwater's prairie chickens (''Tympanuchus cupido attwateri''), over one million of which inhabited the prairie in Texas and Louisiana in the 19th century, but extreme reduction of their habitat put them on the U.S.

endangered species list On 29 January 2010, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 5220 (2754 animals, 1 fungus, 2464 plant, 1 protist) endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and sub-populations. For IUCN lists of endangered species by kingdom, ...

in 1967. Another endangered bird of the coast is the whooping crane (''Grus americana''). Many species of wading birds, shorebirds, and other waterbirds are abundant. Birds in the Mexican part of the region include

Morelet’s seedeater Morelet's seedeater (''Sporophila morelleti'') is a passerine bird in the typical seedeater genus ''Sporophila''. Taxonomy This species was formerly considered conspecific with the cinnamon-rumped seedeater (''Sporophila torqueola''), with the ...

(''Sporophila morelleti''),

red-billed pigeon The red-billed pigeon (''Patagioenas flavirostris'') is a relatively large, robust species of pigeon. It's breeding range extends from southern Texas, United States, to Costa Rica. It's primarily found throughout coastal and lowland areas of Mex ...

(''Columba flavirostris''),

brown jay The brown jay (''Psilorhinus morio'') is a large American jay which has the habitus of a magpie, but is slightly smaller and with a shorter tail, though the bill is larger. It occurs from Mexico south into Central America on the Gulf slope. T ...

(''Cyanocorax morio''), Neotropic cormorant, white-winged dove (''Leptotila verrequxi'') and

Audubon's oriole Audubon's oriole (''Icterus graduacauda''), formerly known as the black-headed oriole, is a New World passerine inhabiting the forests and thickets of southeastern Texas and the Mexican coast. It is the only species to have a black hood and yel ...

(''Icterus graduacauda''). Mammals of the area include

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...

s, collared peccary, white-tailed deer, eastern cottontails, with ocelot (''

Leopardus pardalis The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Two subspecies are recognized. It is native to the southw ...

''), Gulf Coast jaguarundi (''Puma yagouaroundi cacomitli''),

southern yellow bat The southern yellow bat (''Dasypterus ega'') is a species of vesper bat that belongs to suborder microchiroptera (microbat) in the family Vespertilionidae. It is native to South, North and Central America, from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas i ...

(''Lasiurus ega''), and Mexican spiny pocket mouse (''Liomys irroratus'') more abundant in Mexico. Rancho Nuevo beach in Tamaulipas and along the Texas coast are the only nesting sites in the world for the Kemp's ridley sea turtle (''Lepidochelys kempii'') while other herpetofauna of the southern part of the ecoregion include Río Grande chirping frog (''

Eleutherodactylus cystignathoides ''Eleutherodactylus cystignathoides'', also known as the Rio Grande chirping frog, Mexican chirping frog, or lowland chirping frog, is a small eleutherodactylid frog. It is found from the southern United States in Texas, and in the northeastern ...

'') and Mexican white-lipped frog ('' Leptodactylus fragilis'').

Threats and preservation

Less than 1% of the ecoregion remains in pristine condition, almost entirely in Texas, while most of the coast has been converted to farmland, including rice paddies, grazing land, or urban areas including

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. Estuaries and other coastal wetlands are better preserved than the prairie and indeed the protected areas of the coast are mainly sanctuaries for waterbirds.

Gallery

File:McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge, Jefferson County, Texas, USA (30 April 2010).jpg,

McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge The McFaddin and Texas Point National Wildlife Refuges are located in proximity in southern Jefferson County on the upper Texas coast at Sabine Pass. The refuges have a combined of fish and wildlife habitat. McFaddin, much the larger one, loc ...

, Jefferson County, Texas, USA (30 April 2010). File:Marysee Prairie Preserve, County Road 2077, Liberty County, Texas, USA (22 May 2020).jpg, Marysee Prairie Preserve, County Road 2077, Liberty County, Texas, USA (22 May 2020). File:Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge (5A) Chambers Co. TX; 1 Dec 2018.jpg, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Chambers County, Texas, USA (1 December 2018). File:Texas bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis), Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado County, Texas, USA (29 March 2019).jpg, Texas bluebonnets (''

Lupinus texensis ''Lupinus texensis'', the Texas bluebonnet or Texas lupine is a species of lupine found in Texas, and the Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas. With other related species of lupines also called bluebonnets, it is the state ...

''),

Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge is a federally protected refugium encompassing one of the largest remnants of coastal prairie habitat remaining in southeast Texas, United States, and home to one of the last populations of criti ...

, Colorado County, Texas, USA (29 March 2019). File:Texas bullnettle & plains coreopsis, Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado Co., TX, USA (3 May 2018).jpg, Texas bullnettle & plains coreopsis,

, Colorado Co., TX, USA (3 May 2018). File:Northern crested caracara (Caracara cheriway), Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado County, Texas, USA (24 May 2014).jpg, crested caracara (''

Caracara plancus The crested caracara (''Caracara plancus'') is a bird of prey in the family Falconidae. It is found from the southern United States through Central and South America to Tierra del Fuego. It was formerly placed in the genus ''Polyborus''. Descrip ...

'')

, Colorado County, Texas, USA (24 May 2014). File:Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado County, Texas, USA (11 November 2017).jpg,

, Colorado County, Texas, USA (11 November 2017). File:Brazos Bend State Park, Fort Bend County, Texas, USA (8 December 2010).jpg, Brazos Bend State Park, Fort Bend County, Texas, USA (8 December 2010). File:Saltmarsh fleabane (Pluchea odorata), Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, Brazoria County, Texas, USA (24 August 2013).jpg, Saltmarsh fleabane ('' Pluchea odorata''),

Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge The Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife conservation area along the coast of Texas (USA), east of the towns of Angleton and Lake Jackson, Texas. It borders Christmas Bay and the Intracoastal Waterway, separated from the Gulf of Mexi ...

, Brazoria County, Texas, USA (24 August 2013). File:San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge, Brazoria County, Texas, USA (12 December 2016).jpg, San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge, Brazoria County, Texas, USA (12 December 2016). File:Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Aransas County, Texas, USA (27 November 2011).jpg, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Aransas County, Texas, USA (27 November 2011). File:Padre Island National Seashore, Kleberg County, Texas, USA (26 November 2011).jpg, Padre Island National Seashore, Kleberg County, Texas, USA (26 November 2011). File:Spanish Dagger (Yucca treculeana), Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, Cameron County, Texas, USA (12 April 2016).jpg, Spanish Dagger (''

Yucca treculeana ''Yucca treculeana'' Carrière is a plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to Texas, New Mexico and Coahuila. Common names include Spanish dagger, Spanish bayonet and Don Quixote's lance. ''Yucca treculeana'' is a large, tree-like species up ...

''), Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, Cameron County, Texas, USA (12 April 2016). File:Harris's Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus) on the road to Mezquital, Municipality of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico (18 March 2009).jpg, Harris's Hawk ('' Parabuteo unicinctus'') on the road to Mezquital, Municipality of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico (18 March 2009). File:Grassland habitat on the road to Mezquital, Municipality of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico (18 March 2009).jpg, Grassland habitat on the road to Mezquital, Municipality of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico (18 March 2009).

References

{{Reflist Gulf Coast of Mexico Gulf Coast of the United States Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Ecoregions of Mexico Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands of the United States Ecoregions of the United States Grasslands of Mexico Grasslands of the United States Grasslands of Texas Natural history of Louisiana Natural history of Tamaulipas Natural history of Texas Nearctic ecoregions