Category: Texas Plant Conservation Program

Rare Plant Surveys and Monitoring

Gratiola quartermaniae

Gratiola quartermaniae was first described from Eastern North America by Estes and Small in 2007. The species typically grows in thin, seasonally saturated soil over exposed limestone or dolomite bedrock. This habitat is typically found associated with limestone glades, barrens, prairies, and alvars. A limestone glade is an area of exposed limestone bedrock with little to no soil overtop.

Kim Norton Taylor March 23, 2021

Rare Plant Surveys and Monitoring

Dalea reverchonii

In the spring of 2012, BRIT botanists conducted extensive surveys of limestone prairies, barrens, and glades in the Fort Worth Prairie and northern Limestone Cut Plain of north central Texas. The Fort Worth Prairie (also known as the Grand Prairie) is a vast grassland with gently sloping, almost level plains dissected by valleys along rivers and streams. This prairie ecosystem is underlain by limestone geology with limestone bedrock near the surface across most of the region. This limestone gives the Fort Worth Prairie its unique features.

Kim Norton Taylor March 23, 2021

Rare Plant Surveys and Monitoring

Cyperus granitophilus

During the course of the flora of Enchanted Rock project, several interesting species were found. One species of note is Cyperus granitophilus (granite flat sedge). This species is a member of the sedge family (Cyperaceae) that is known to occur in the Piedmont granite regions of Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. This species only grows on granite outcrops. While conducting field work for the flora of Enchanted Rock, Bob O’Kennon and Kim Taylor discovered a sedge that they did not recognize.

Kim Norton Taylor March 23, 2021

Rare Plant Surveys and Monitoring

Schoenoplectiella hallii

The 2012 Texas Conservation Action Plan (TCAP) for the Cross Timbers Region identifies the lack of information and lack of processing of existing data for Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) as two major issues for the region. Little information is available about the distribution and habitat needs of SGCN within the region and little has been done with what data does exist. This knowledge gap makes it “difficult to focus or prioritize management objectives or share information with private landowners about the importance of some sites, populations, or communities” (TCAP 2012).

Kim Norton Taylor March 23, 2021

Current Research

Texas Plant Conservation Conference 2023

The Texas Plant Conservation Conference is a professional-level meeting serving scientists, land managers, state and federal agencies, local governments, and other professionals with an interest in plant conservation in Texas and adjacent regions. Conference attendees explore current research and conservation projects on rare plants, native plant communities, plant monitoring methods, and plant management practices for native Texas plants. This conference is ideal for conservation organizations, agencies, academics and members of the public interested in native plant conservation.

Brooke Byerley Best, Ph.D. March 17, 2021

Past Research

Rare Plant Mapping

Over the past decade, citizen science, the use of volunteers to collect data or conduct research, has increased in popularity. It has enabled scientists to collect large amounts of data using minimal resources and time. The use of citizen scientists to collect data is more cost effective than traditional science, even when experts are used to verify data collected (Gardiner et al. 2012).