IDENTIFYING PLANTS The Key to Land's Past, Present and Future Article by LORIE A. WOODWARD Photo by STEVE NELLE
T
he plants that exist on a ranch tell the story of the land's past, define its present and portend its future. “The existing plant community is a visual history of the land and its uses over time,” said Forrest S. Smith, Dan L Duncan Endowed Director of Texas Native Seeds Program at the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute in Kingsville. "On any given day, the plants will tell landowners what successional stage the land is in vegetation-wise." He continued, "And because the land and the plants, in any given region, respond in a predictable manner to different weather and management techniques, the existing plant community can indicate what the land likely will look like under different management and weather scenarios." For many people, the allure of working with animals distracts them from the less glamorous but essential pursuit of knowing their dominant plants. “I run into people all the time, who have a case of 'deer blindness' or 'stock blindness' when it comes to their land,” Smith said. “They only see the animals on the land but don't think it's necessary to pay much attention to the plants." Disregarding the vegetation can hamstring management efforts. “Anybody in the business world, whether they're grocers, auto dealers or ranchers, needs to know their inventory,” said Dr. Fred Bryant, Director of Development of the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute who served also as its Executive Director from 1996-2016. “As a rancher or wildlife manager, the plants on the land are a crucial part of the business inventory.” 46 T E X A S W I L D L I F E
APRIL 2021
In the case of a ranch, the existing vegetation is nature's buffet for the animals, whether they're livestock, game or both. Vegetation also provides other essentials such as shelter, nesting or fawning cover, erosion control and more. “The abundance and quality of plants dictates the abundance and quality of animals,” Bryant said. "If someone doesn't know what's in the inventory it's hard to manage for success." The quality and vigor of the vegetation also indicates the health of the range and the underlying soil. “The plant community can be a manager's eyes into the soil,” said Russell Stevens, a wildlife and range consultant with the Noble Research Institute (NRI) in Ardmore, Oklahoma. “What exists above the ground is directly tied to the health and productivity of the soil.” MOVING ON While vegetation does not physically move from place to place like roaming animals, the plant community is in a constant state of change. “The plant community is not static; it's constantly moving in a direction, either forward or backward,” said Bryant. “The direction it's moving tells a person how to manage.” The cumulative, non-seasonal change in the types of plant species that occupy a given area through time is known as succession. Over time, different plants are colonizing, establishing and disappearing in response to different conditions. Most successions contain a number of stages that can be recognized by the collection of species that dominate the landscape at any given point.
