Why You Need the Prairie and More of It
by Wanda Aglin
Image Courtesy of Texas Parks and Wildlife. More information can be found here.
Historically, the Gulf Coast Prairie covered 9 million acres of native grassland prairies and wetlands with forested areas around rivers, streams, and creek beds. 11 out of the 15 rivers that flow across Texas cross into the coastal prairie, highlighting the importance of their critical filtering and water-absorbing capabilities.
I am eager to share some of the amazing capabilities of our native coastal tall grass prairies and how we can contribute to preserving and even re-introducing prairies in our landscapes.
Image Courtesy of the Texas Longleaf Team. More information can be found here.
Flood Risk Reduction
A 2015 Harris County Flood Control study concluded that one acre of native prairie has the water-holding and porosity power to mitigate 3.52 inches of rainfall during a 100-year flood event. That water-retaining property results from organic matter in the soil and the prairie plants’ deep root systems.
The prairie holds the water for a few days which buys time for downstream lands and bodies of water to drain and the sun and wind to begin evaporating some of the flood waters.
The extremely deep roots of coastal prairie grasses and forbs (flowering plants that most of us call wildflowers or “weeds”) absorb water rapidly and percolate the water deep into the soil, away from the land’s surface where it can cause flooding and erosion. When compared to the very shallow root systems of turf grasses such as Bermuda and St. Augustine grasses, the biomass of prairie plant roots is exponentially greater.
Healthy coastal prairies have a diverse assortment of grasses such as big bluestem, broomsedge bluestem, switchgrass, sideoats grama, eastern gama grass, Indiangrass, little bluestem, dropseed, and wild rye. Coastal prairie forbs include evening primrose, bluebonnets, gayfeather, coneflowers, black-eyed Susan, cowpen daisy, coreopsis, Maximilian sunflower, partridge pea, and winecup, to name just a few.
Most of these prairie grasses and forbs have deep, dense root systems that hold water and push water deep into the soil. Most die back partially in the winter, adding organic matter to the soil which further improves its water absorption.
Additionally, the presence of plants prevents compaction of soil that reduces absorption rates. A raindrop does not seem very powerful, but a raindrop hitting the ground pounds at 10-50 pounds per square inch. Fierce rains like those during hurricanes can pound the ground at 100 pounds per square inch. Consider the fact that there are just under 100,000 drops in a gallon of water and that a rainfall of 1 inch over an acre produces 27,143 gallons of water. That is a lot of pounding! In the absence of leaves, stems, petals, and other plant structures to break the fall of drops and scatter their force, compacts soil. Thus, grasses and other prairie plants act as powerful soil protectors, both above and below the ground.
Preservation and Restoration of Water Tables
The spectacular water-retention capability of deep-rooted prairie plants can not only reduce flooding, but also has the capability to restore water tables and entire ecological systems. As the roots push moisture deep into the soil, they release the moisture into the soil over time, which can result in more vegetation, springs, and streams in previously desolate land. One fascinating example of turning barren land into an oasis is Selah, Bamberger Ranch Preserve. Though not on the Coastal Prairie, the 5500-acre ranch in Hill Country’s Blanco County is a remarkable story of how a few short decades of land stewardship using native plants can turn a limestone "desert" into a verdant landscape. I highly recommend the 8-minute YouTube video “Selah: Water from Stone at The Bamberger Ranch”. Prairies and other lands can recover quickly if we help them along!
Erosion Control
Sudden, heavy rainfall can drastically and quickly alter the landscape, especially around rivers and streams. As erosion caves banks and moves soil particles of all sizes (from fine sand to large boulders) downstream, it damages the habitat of both the eroded area and the area where the washed away soil, rocks, and other debris build up.
Erosion not only affects the ecology, but also our water quality. Prairie plant life slows the movement of water across the land, acting as erosion mitigators as they prevent some water from entering engorged bodies of water, or rapidly flowing across disturbed land such as plowed fields and construction sites.
Using native plants in any ecosystem, including the urban yard, can help to reduce the likelihood of sediments being carried away, degrading water quality, and damaging wildlife habitat.
Carbon Sequestration
For decades, the prevalent ecological message has emphasized the value of trees for our planet’s health. So, most would believe that trees are the greatest contributor to removing carbon from the atmosphere, storing it in their trunks, branches, leaves, and roots. But a 2018 University of California (UC) Davis study revealed that grasslands are the real carbon sink heros.
As a nation, we have implemented policies to prevent natural fire. Not only because we treasure trees for their beauty, wildlife habitat, and contribution to the planet’s health, but also because urban sprawl has built homes and businesses near trees, making fire dangerous to humans. But without periodic natural wildfire to regularly burn forests’ understory to clear the way for healthy growth, fuel accumulates. In conjunction with rising global temperatures and increasing drought frequency, the over-abundance of fuel for wildfires has led to hotter fires that are more difficult to control. These more intense fires destroy everything in their paths, including most trees and vegetation, rather than only the understory and smaller saplings. This results in slower forest recovery. The increase in tree mortality due to overheated wildfires, as well as removal of trees for agriculture and urban development, have drastically reduced the benefits trees can provide to all life on the planet.
The UC Davis study found that grasslands were much more resilient to increased temperatures, extended droughts, and fire. And because of their extensive root systems, compared to their smaller above-ground mass, the carbon they held was primarily below ground. So, a grass fire does not release as much carbon back into the atmosphere as a forest fire, since trees store so much of the carbon in above-ground portions that release during a fire.
Prairie conservation and restoration is a climate-smart approach for many reason, including carbon sequestration. Additionally, this is great news for areas where forests are not native, and many tree species would not survive (as in much of our Gulf Coast prairie region). Plant a tree when it makes sense for the area, but planting native grasses and forbs can be a more effective strategy for a carbon sink, especially as rising temperatures and changes in moisture levels in the soil and atmosphere begin to change the survival rates of historically native trees.
Wildlife Benefits
Photo courtesy of Skylar Rhea.
A casual observer might view the prairie as a simple collection of grass and flowers, and not consider the diversity of animals that live in and benefit from these grasslands. It is much easier to observe tree-dwelling animals such as birds or squirrels, or opossums and racoons foraging. Prairie wildlife are often more difficult to detect. But they are there, if you are patient and know where to look!
One of the most famous (and most endangered) Gulf Coast prairie inhabitants is the Attwater’s Prairie Chicken. Of the 6 million coastal Texas acres of tall grass prairie that were once suitable for this bird, fewer than 200,000 acres remain. Populations have plummeted as 97% of its historic range has been lost; 57% since 1937. At least a million Attwater’s prairie chickens once thrived on the combined coastal prairies of Texas and Louisiana. The birds disappeared from Louisiana by 1919, and in 1937 only about 8,700 remained in Texas. The birds were listed as endangered in 1967 with a population of 1,070, and automatically received protection under the Endangered Species Act in 1973.
Their numbers have waxed and waned over the last few decades as the last 2 wild populations in protected areas of Goliad and Colorado Counties have been tracked, guarded, and supplemented by reintroduction using captive breeding at places such as the Houston Zoo. Today, the 2 wild populations at the Refugio-Goliad Project near Victoria, TX, and the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge south of I-10, between Sealy and Columbus, TX, continue to struggle. In spite of prairie conservation and restoration and reintroduction programs, the populations have continued to dwindle with the wild population estimated fewer than 100 in 2024.
The good news is that the efforts to prevent extinction of the Attwater’s Prairie Chicken have provided 3,500 acres within the refuge of restored and carefully managed prairie that benefits many species of plants and animals.
The myriads of species found in the grasslands and neighboring marshes include more than 700 species of wildflowers and grasses; 300+ resident and migratory bird species; 110 species of mammals, amphibians, and reptiles; and thousands of terrestrial insects and aquatic invertebrate species.
Explore a tall grass prairie along the coastal region a bit more closely to find some of these common prairie fauna (not a complete list):
Birds
A wide variety of wrens and sparrows including LeConte's Sparrow
Horned larks
And migrators such as sandhill cranes, warblers, snowy egrets, northern harrier hawks, Sprague’s pipits, and sandhill cranes
Mammals
Virginia opossum
Short-tailed shrew
Many types of rodents such as the short-headed pocket gopher and cotton rats
Collared peccary (often referred to as javelina)
Eastern cottontail and black-tailed jackrabbits
Racoon
A variety of bats
White-tailed deer
Red wolf
And even cats such as bobcats, ocelot, and Gulf Coast jaguarundi
Reptiles and Amphibians (Herps) – usually found near water sources on the prairie
Box turtles
Texas horned lizard
Spot-tailed earless lizard
Timber rattlesnake
Leopard frog
Eastern narrow-mouthed toad
Crawfish frog – they live in crawfish burrows, not in the marsh as you might expect, but in grasslands and other open fields
Insects and Pollinators
A wide variety of butterflies including the iconic Monarch butterfly and, if you are lucky, a bay skipper, which is a small butterfly that lives only in tidal sawgrass marshes in Mississippi and Texas
Many types of beetles and flies
Sonoran and American Bumblebees
The tall grass prairies are incredibly biodiverse, providing a complete food chain for their inhabitants ,with grasses and forbs providing shelter and food.
As humans, we benefit from the powerful capabilities of prairies, from their flood-mitigating properties to their support of pollinators that makse our agriculture possible. Each of us plays a role in safeguarding and revitalizing our coastal prairies, leaving a legacy of vibrant landscapes for future generations
What Can We Do to help the Coastal Prairie?
Use the resources below to support your conservation journey:
If you are a landowner, learn about Conservation Easements, Land Donations, and land stewardship.
Join organizations to learn and volunteer:
Small lifestyle changes can go a long way to supporting the health of not only our Gulf Coast prairies but our planet, in general.
When planting in your yard, always plant native. Here are some great resources to make your native planting project easier.
Plant your very own pocket prairie!
Get inspired by renowned and very passionate ecologist, Doug Tallamy’s, Homegrown National Park
Be supportive and appreciative of efforts business and government make to use prairies where traditionally manicured gardens full of non-natives existed. In Houston, check out M.D. Anderson Prairie in the Medical Center, Memorial Park’s Land Bridge and Prairie, and various Buffalo Bayou projects such as Watonga Parkway Prairie. Further afield, Texas Parks & Wildlife manages prairies at nearby state parks including Sheldon Lake, Brazos Bend State Park, and Galveston Island State Park.
Check out these ideas to create a more healthy planet for us to live in.
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Bio: Wanda Anglin is a lifelong student and appreciator of the natural world and its interwoven systems. She is fortunate to live on a farm in a unique area of northeast Colorado County near Columbus, TX, where the coastal prairie meets the post oak savannah and Blackland prairie ecoregions as well as being home to the southeastern tail of the Lost Pines belt. All these ecotypes are seen on her small farm. As a Texas Master Naturalist, she participates in many citizen science projects that build on her understanding of how water, air, soil, flora and fauna, climate, and how humans choose to use Earth’s resources, are all inter-related. A change in one results in changes in the other systems. She jumps at every chance to share opportunities to help others understand how they can promote the natural world they want while enjoying Earth’s bounty responsibly.