The Laguna Madre of Texas and Tamaulipas

John Wesley Tunnell, Frank W. Judd

Texas A&M University Press, Jan 1, 2002 - Nature - 346 pages

The Laguna Madre of Texas and Tamaulipas is the only hypersaline coastal lagoon on the North American continent and only one of five worldwide. Extending along 277 miles of shoreline in South Texas and northeastern Mexico, the lagoon is renowned for its vast seagrass meadows, huge wintering redhead population, and bountiful fishing grounds.

Recent concerns about increasing human activity have focused attention on the long-term health of the Laguna Madre as growing population pressures, pollution problems, and dredging threaten this unique ecosystem. The Nature Conservancy, whose mission is the conservation of biodiversity through protection of habitat, recognized the need to compile all known information about the Laguna Madre in order to move ahead with a science-based conservation agenda. This book is the result.

Taking an ecosystem approach to the study of this rich habitat, the authors first provide an overview of the natural history of the Laguna Madre and adjacent areas, including an essay on the importance of the region's private ranches. Succeeding chapters discuss the diverse natural resources of the lagoon—seagrasses, open bays, tidal flats, barrier islands, abundant waterfowl, colonial waterbird rookeries, sea turtles, and fisheries. A final section identifies information gaps, offers a conservation framework, and makes recommendations for preserving the biodiversity of this complex and special ecosystem.

Over seventy years of literature on the Laguna Madre and surrounding environments has been synthesized here. With 150 figures and illustrations, the book is the first to take a broad and comprehensive look at both the Texan and Tamaulipan Laguna Madre. For scientists, conservationists, resource managers, and policy makers involved in the future of the Texas and Mexico coasts, the value of this book is clear. And coastal residents, birders, anglers, and nature lovers who want to learn about and take care of the Laguna Madre will find this to be an indispensable guide.

Contents

• Introduction: 3
• Geography Climate and Hydrography: 7
• Origin Development and Geology: 28
• Tamaulipan Biotic Province: 38
• Ranching Heritage: 59
• Natural Resources: 71
• The Environment: 73
• Seagrass Meadows: 85
• Open Bay: 102
• WindTidal Flats: 114
• Barrier Islands: 127
• Redheads and Other Wintering Waterfowl: 169
• Colonial Waterbirds and Rookery Islands: 182
• Shorebirds and Wading Birds: 198
• Sea Turtles: 211
• Fish and Invertebrate Fisheries Organisms: 223
• Special Issues and Concerns: 253
• Red and Brown Tides: 255
• The Laguna Madre A Conservation Framework: 259
• Information Gaps and Needs: 270
• Conservation Issues and Recommendations: 275
• Contacts: 289
• Acronyms: 303
• Literature Cited: 305
• Contributors: 335
• Index: 337

Popular passages

Page 330 - Texas Department of Water Resources, 1983. Laguna Madre Estuary: A Study of the Influence of Freshwater Inflows.‎

Page 308 - Blooms in the Corpus Christi Bay National Estuary Program Study Area. Corpus Christi Bay National Estuary Program CCBNEP-07. Corpus Christi: Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission. 174 pp. Buskey, EJ, and DA Stockwell. 1993. Effects of a persistent "brown tide" on zooplankton populations in the Laguna Madre of South Texas.‎

Page 332 - White, WA, TR Calnan, RA Morton, RS Kimble, TG Littleton, JH McGowen, HS Nance, and KE Schmedes, 1985. Submerged lands of Texas. Galveston-Houston area: sediments, geochemistry, benthic macroinvertebrates.‎

Page 333 - Chapman. 1993. Seasonal abundance and habitat use of shorebirds on an Oso Bay mudflat, Corpus Christi, Texas.‎

Page 308 - The effects of Hurricane Camille on the marshes of the Mississippi River Delta.‎

Page 308 - Sea turtle strandings and shrimp fishing effort in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, 1986-1989.‎

About the author

John W. Tunnell, Jr., is director of the Center for Coastal Studies and professor of biology at Texas A&M University?Corpus Christi.Frank W. Judd is a professor and head of the Department of Biology at the University of Texas?Pan American.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Laguna Madre of Texas and Tamaulipas; Volume 2 of Gulf Coast Books, Sponsored by Texas a&M University-Corpus Christi Series; Volume 2 of Gulf Coast studies
• Editors: John Wesley Tunnell, Frank W. Judd
• Contributor: Frank W. Judd
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Texas A&M University Press, 2002
• ISBN: 1585441333, 9781585441334
• Length: 346 pages
• Subjects: Nature / Birdwatching Guides; Nature / Ecology; Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection; Science / Life Sciences / Ecology