As a museum at the border of what's commonly thought of as South Texas
(Victoria), we struggle with this question sometimes. We also struggle with the
definition of "Coastal Bend". At its narrowest, it's Aransas and Matagorda
Bays, and the land near them. At its widest, it's the entire Texas coast.
I suspect "South Texas" is something similar - an amorphous blob that depends
on what you need it to be.
As a birding region, you could even argue that "South Texas" is not a great
region. Look at how different Laredo is from SPI, for instance.
Nature just can't respect our desire to carve it up!
________________________________________
From: texbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [texbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Collins, Fred (Commissioner Pct. 3) [FCollins@xxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 2:36 PM
To: dellel1119@xxxxxxxxx; Jim Sinclair
Cc: sandboa@xxxxxxxxxxx; Texbirds
Subject: [texbirds] Re: Ecotourism definition for "South Texas"?
Ecotourism is marketing wildlife centric tours not ecology. If your market
includes people from Britain and Japan, South Texas goes from Houston to San
Antonio or Austin south to the border and likely includes Seminole Canyon.
Course Texas birders would find that ludicrous. I like the TPWD ecoregions but
they cannot reflect all the range expansions we have seen as so many species
spread beyond their ecological habitat cores.
Fred Collins, Director
Kleb Woods Nature Center
20303 Draper Road,Tomball TX 77377
281-357-5324
Harris County Precinct 3
Steve Radack Commissioner
www.pct3.com
-----Original Message-----
From: texbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:texbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Dell Little
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 2:29 PM
To: Jim Sinclair <jim.sinclair@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: sandboa@xxxxxxxxxxx; Texbirds <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [texbirds] Re: Ecotourism definition for "South Texas"?
I've always liked TOS Region 7
<http://www.texasbirdimages.com/home/region-7>
On Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 2:24 PM, Jim Sinclair <jim.sinclair@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Interesting comments! Thanks to all that replied, both here and
privately. I'm definitely playing devil's advocate here, as my own
view has bounced around considerably over the last few years, and I
currently have no personal working definition.
Most of the replies offered definitions that are party based upon
ecosystem definitions without regard for ecotourism. But even those
were not consistent.
There are multiple definitions for dividing the state into ecosystem
or natural regions. See the two following links for examples:
<
https://tpwd.texas.gov/education/hunter-education/online-course/wildli
fe-conservation/texas-ecoregions
<http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/152207/>
Chris touched upon another component of defining an area by mentioning
his interest in herpetology. I would even add lep and odes into that mix.
I am in the early stages of developing an ecotour program guide for
South Texas (not for profit, David;-)) that will have the Texas state
park system as its core. It will include an economic component as well.
Again, thanks to all!
On Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 8:06 AM, Chris Harrison <sandboa@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
For my money, I agree with Tim to a large degree. I look at itpersonally
based on herp distributions since that is an interest of mine andare
herps
much less vagile than birds.edge
My boundaries for South Texas are Del Rio across the edge of the
hill country (roughly highway 90) to San Antonio then SE along the
southern
of the San Antonio River to the coast. The San Antonio River seems tocut
it about right and it seems to be an approximate boundary for manypermission
Tamaulipan species.
Seminole Canyon is definitely not in South Texas, it is part of the
Trans-Pecos.
Chris Harrison
San Antonio
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