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Global Warning - Aug 22, 2005 - Printable Version
- My Little Corner of the World
by Robin Buckallew
This has been a very strange summer for me. A great many things have been happening, tremendous amounts of thoughts going through my head, a lot of hard work, and a lot of soul-searching. After a busy summer, where thoughts just seemed to pour out of my pen and onto the paper, who would have thought that suddenly when I sat down to write my column, I would find myself facing that most dreaded disease of writers - drum roll please - WRITER'S BLOCK. Oh, it's not that I lack ideas. I have thousands of wonderful ideas, thousands of things whizzing through my head, things I think you would like to hear about, things I think you would rather not hear about but need to, things I think would inspire you. I have thoughts, imaginings, dreams. I just can't get them out of my head onto paper. Suddenly, I find myself staring at the abyss of despair and hopelessness, and keep turning my head away, hoping I won't fall in. Then, I think about you, my loyal readers. If I were to fall into that pit, I might find myself dragging at least some of you with me, and that wouldn't do anyone any good. I have a better idea. I decided maybe it was time to show you the world through my eyes (you'll need a rather strong pair of glasses - genetic predisposition toward myopia coupled with years of heavy reading have taken their toll on my eyes). Next week, I head south once again, down to the other side of the river to that mysterious place they call Texas. Texas, the world's number one producer of Texans. For 3 days, I will spend my time wandering around in the wilderness of the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area, collecting data in a three-year long study of the biodiversity of the region. I have decided, I will take you along with me. After all, I could use the help, and couldn't think of anyone else I'd rather share this experience with. So, get your things ready. You're going to need some supplies. I suggest sun screen and lots of drinking water (this is Texas, remember, and it's August - I don't need a crystal ball to predict it will be hot). All aboard? Good. Here we go. Hold on tight, I wouldn't want to lose anyone.
Oh, look at that! See that river? Amazing how red the water is. That's the Red River, but you probably already guessed that. Glad you asked - actually, the river is nearly always low. This area is a fairly dry one, and this river doesn't often fill its banks. Last year, during the unseasonably heavy rains that were hitting Texas causing flooding in Dallas in July, the river filled to its banks several times, but that's not really very common. Across the river, now we're in Texas. This would be a really good time to quit all the Texas jokes we've been telling - we're guests in their state now, so let's try to be polite.
The place we're going is just north of Dallas, in the city of Lewisville. For the past three years, I have been doing a biodiversity survey of the plant community on a Corps of Engineers owned property just below the Lewisville Lake dam. The property encompasses approximately 2000 acres, and is in the area of the state that was once dominated by the Cross Timbers, a post oak-blackjack oak forest that runs from Texas into Kansas, but now remains only in small fragments of isolated forest patches. There is very little left on this property of the original Cross Timbers. Before becoming Corps property, the land had been farmed for about 50 years, and ranched for about 50 years. The past 50 years, since the building of the dam, it's been sitting fallow, but much changed not only by the agricultural efforts of a century, but also by the further insult of the dam changing the entire ecosystem by altering the water structure of the property. Now, the Corps has begun contracting with local universities and organizations to attempt to restore the property, and create an environmental learning area. That's where I come in. The best way to begin any restoration is with an assessment of the existing condition. In spite of all the damage and insult, the property retains some charming features, some wonderful surprises for the observant explorer. Let's check it out.
Today, let's look at the forests. I do love forests, and these are no exception. Well, alright, they're hardly virgin old growth wilderness, but they are what we have to work with. In fact, these forests are mostly dominated by two native species, hackberry and ash. These trees are fast-growing, and relatively short lived, and often move into areas that have been disturbed. They are often the first colonizers, and will, if conditions permit and seeds are available in the soil, eventually give way to the slower growing hardwoods that originally dominated this property. Although these two species are not the most desired by ecologists and wildlife managers, they do have some benefits. The fruits of both species are edible, and serve a number of wildlife species, particularly birds such as mockingbirds and robins. The hackberry retains its fruits late into the winter, and provides an important winter food source for the cedar waxwing. Perhaps we'll be lucky enough to see some wildlife..shhh! Look, over there! If you look carefully, you can see the two armadillos cavorting, playing happily in the cool woods. You say you've never seen a live armadillo? They're sure cute, aren't they? Wow! Did you see that lizard? Oooh, those oranges and reds are sure pretty. Who ever thought a reptile could be so beautiful? Oh, wow, look over here. Here, on this fallen tree trunk. See that striking white frill? Very delicate and attractive. That's a fungus. It's going about the work of decomposing the tree, so its nutrients can be returned to the soil and used again by the living plant community. You'll notice that the ground under the trees doesn't have a lot of grass or other plant life. That's because this late in the summer, the trees are fully leafed out, and the canopy doesn't let in a lot of light. Early in the spring, when the leaves are just beginning to bud out, this forest floor is rich in vegetation, carpeted with lacy-looking white flowers that will ripen their fruits just about the time the forest canopy closes up. There are a great many vines that are growing, though. If you'll look closely at that tree, you can see the grapes ripening out, just about ready to harvest. Be careful, though, one of the vines that grows around here is poison ivy, and you wouldn't want to come in contact with that. Although the birds like the berries, primates find it a little unfriendly. Is there anyone here who doesn't recognize it? There, we'll point it out to you so you can avoid it. Also common in here is the Virginia creeper, which you can tell apart from the poison ivy because it has five leaflets instead of three, and over there is the greenbrier - you'll recognize that one by its thorns.
Look behind you, see that tree with the narrow leaves? That's a black willow. When you see it growing here in this forest, you know the forest has quite a bit of moisture, because that tree likes it rather wet. This tree is a very interesting one - it contains a compound in its bark that is the same compound used to make aspirin. If you should ever get a headache while you're lost in the woods, just chew a little of that, and it will help it go away. In fact, there have been stories of bears who have been known to have chewed the bark when they have an abscessed tooth, so apparently we're not the only animal that figured that out. That big tree over there is a pecan. The pecan is the official state tree of Texas, and is one of the most valuable commercial crops in the world. Looks like we have a lot of pecans this year. Pecans usually only put on a good crop every other year. We call that mast fruiting. It does that to help protect it from herbivory. Putting on fruit is very energetically expensive, and it doesn't help the reproduction of the tree if all the nuts get eaten and none are left to sprout new trees. So, every other year, the tree saves its energy by producing very little fruit, and the next year, it uses that energy to put out so much fruit that the squirrels and other animals can eat their fill and there will still be some left to sprout into new trees. There are a number of tree species that do this sort of fruiting.
You noticed that hole in the tree. Well, it really doesn't hurt it that much. Trees are able to repair much of the damage that comes about naturally, by rerouting their vascular system around the damaged area to ensure proper delivery of water and minerals to their tissues. They are also able to scab over small holes, which helps to protect them from insect damage. The larger holes can be useful, though. They provide homes for forest animals. Some trees, as they get older, get hollow inside, and animals will set up homes inside the trunk. In fact, during the early pioneer days, some cottonwoods were so large that the hollows were big enough for a human family to live in for a few days while they were building their shelter. Of course, trees also provide homes for animals in other ways, too. If you look up into the branches of this tree, you'll see a tiny bird's nest in the crook of the branches up there. Don't crowd, don't make too much noise. You don't want to scare away the bird. Just remember, you're in their living room now.
Well, let's move out of the forest, and go down the trail. If we go a little ways, we'll find a tall grass prairie just down the way. Oh, look down at the path! There, you see it? Deer tracks. Oh, look, just behind them, you can see the tracks of a baby deer. Seems there are deer that use this forest for their home, too. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll see some of them today. Hey, stop a minute! Look over there, at that purple flower. See the butterfly? Wow, they must really love the nectar of that flower. That pale yellow color is a dead giveaway - that's a sulfur butterfly. We'll probably see a lot of those today. Oops, careful. You almost walked through that spider's web. Let's go around - she worked awful hard building that web. But take a close look before you go on. This spider is quite lovely, isn't she? Yes, I know, she's big, but she's not a bit dangerous, at least if you're not a fly. She isn't poisonous at all, and she does a great job keeping the flies and the mosquitoes down in the area. Look at that bright yellow color, with the black markings. But even more special, look at her web. Wow, it has a zigzag design, sort of like a zipper! Some people refer to this as a zipper spider, but she has many names. Let's leave her in peace, we wouldn't want to disturb her dinner. On to the tall grass prairie.
Here we are, the prairie. Years ago, before European settlement, prairies were very common in this region, stretching for miles, and populated by huge thundering herds of bison. The tall grass prairie was much like what you see before you now. The grass here is taller than we are, sometimes getting as tall as 8-10 feet. This prairie is a restoration project, and was seeded in a few years ago, but is beginning to look in this spot much like the native prairie. This particular patch contains all the "big four" grasses of the original tallgrass prairie ecosystem. These big four are big bluestem, little bluestem, Switchgrass, and Indian grass. All of these grasses are favorites of grazing animals, and when herds of cattle come in, they often disappear from their native ranges. Because the bison tended to graze a range and then move on, they maintained the prairies, and the grasses would grow back. The bison herds would then return several years later, graze it down again, and the cycle would start over. In addition, the frequent fires that raged across the native prairies would maintain the prairie by burning out the scrubby shrubs of mesquite and juniper that threaten to take over prairies in the absence of fire. For most of the 20th century, fire was regarded as a bad thing, and all fires that got started were automatically put out. Now, system managers have come to recognize the replenishing value of fire, which clears out scrub, returns nutrients to the soil, and maintains the prairie. It is still the policy to put out fires that threaten towns or homes, but prairies are often set fire intentionally, in an attempt to simulate the natural fires that used to ignite from lightning strikes, and keep the prairie as a prairie.
The prairie is an entire living unit on its own. The tall grasses that are growing here provide habitat and food for a number of wildlife species, such as all the grasshoppers you can see in front of you. In all, so far I have identified 47 species of grasses growing on this property. Unfortunately, the most common grasses growing out here right now are Johnson grass and Bermuda grass, two species that were introduced into this country from other regions to use as forage for cattle. Although both species provide some decent forage, they tend to be quite aggressive at colonization, and have spread like a plague over the native prairies and pasture lands. They are very difficult to control once they get a foothold, and often entire landscapes will be dominated by one or the other of these species, with few or no native species sharing the area. In addition, while Johnson grass is good forage part of the year, the ranchers discovered that under periods of stress, or periods of drought, or following a frost, it produces a toxic compound that poisons their livestock. If we walk just a little way up this path, we will encounter another system not far away that is mostly Johnson grass.
Let's take a walk down this other path, I have something else I want to show you. Oh, look, over there! You saw that, too? Yes, it was a bobcat that just ran into the woods. There are quite a few bobcats around here, but they are so fast, I usually just get a glimpse of them, and have never succeeded in getting a picture. And over there, those large white birds are egrets. They are enjoying the river, and I often see them in the trees. They are so graceful; I always enjoy watching them in flight. If we're lucky, we also might see a barn owl, or a turkey vulture. This area is just alive with wildlife, but I don't get to see as much of it as I would like. As a plant biologist, I do most of my work in the daytime, and the wildlife prefers to be out at night. Not only is it safer after dark, but it's cooler, too, and in a hot Texas August, that can be a really good thing, believe me. Here we are, this is where we were headed. This fence is the home of a herd of bison that have recently been brought in to live here on the property. Look, over there, you can see one of them now. Oh, there's the whole herd! Wow, they're really quite large, aren't they? We all know about bison, and the large herds that once roamed across the western United States. They were a chief source of food and clothing for the Native Americans, but were hunted to near extinction during the settlement of the west. Fortunately, the bison is enjoying a comeback, a true success story of the Endangered Species Act, and the restoration efforts of thousands of dedicated individuals. Here, the bison are part of the restoration team we've put together. We're hoping that the reintroduction of the bison can help us to bring back the native prairie by repeating the natural grazing cycles that were once the norm here. One interesting fact: there is almost no Johnson grass growing inside the bison cage. This could be one of the more effective ways we have of controlling the infestation of this large and aggressive grassland invader.
Well, that's about it for the prairie tour right now. I'm afraid we're running out of time today, but if you found this tour interesting, we can come back another day, and visit the wetlands. Perhaps you can help me count the survivors in our wetland restoration experiment. I'm sure you'd find that fascinating. But before you go, I would like to point out a few quick facts about this place. To date, the survey you were just a part of has identified over 400 species of plants that are currently present here. Those plants provide the basis for a diverse array of birds, reptiles, insects, fish and mammals. The life that is living just in this small patch of land vastly outnumbers the population of the entire Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex of which it is a part, but is rarely considered when most municipal policies are made. These plants, animals and other living things (remember the beautiful fungus?) have absolutely no representation in Congress. All too often, they are given the death penalty as we move them aside to make way for things that we consider more important. The greatest irony in this is that we rely on the other living things around us in order to maintain our own life, not to mention our lifestyle. I hope this little trip to Texas, brief though it was, will help you look a little closer at your own surroundings, wherever you are. Since the rest of the living world has no voice in our government, it is up to us. We can give them a voice. They already have mine. I just hope your voice will join mine. We need a lot of voices to get over all the noise of the modern world. But sometimes, the only way to be heard above the choir is to sing a different song.
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