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Texas-Tamaulipan Thornscrub

Ecoregion in TX, Coahuila

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Covering a large portion of the Southern Texas Plains, the Texas-Tamaulipan Thornscrub ecoregion encompasses a mosaic of vegetation assemblages and a variety of soils. This South Texas region owes its diversity to the convergence of the Chihuahuan Desert to the west, the Tamaulipan thornscrub and subtropical woodlands along the Rio Grande to the south, and coastal grasslands to the east. Composed of mostly gently rolling or irregular plains, the region is cut by arroyos and streams, and covered with low-growing vegetation. The thorn woodland and thorn shrubland vegetation is distinctive, and these Rio Grande Plains are commonly called the “brush country”. Three centuries of grazing, suppression of fire, and droughts have contributed to the spread of brush and the decrease of grasses. Soils include hyperthermic Alfisols, Aridisols, Mollisols, and Vertisols. They are varied and complex, highly alkaline to slightly acidic, ranging from deep sands to clays and clay loams. Caliche

— EPA

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