Aransas: A Naturalist's Guide." . . a very solid, interesting, and significant contribution to environmental knowledge about the Coastal Bend of Texas. . . . It will make an excellent companion volume to their Matagorda book." --Robin W. Doughty, author of Return of the Whooping Crane and The Mockingbird Widely known as the wintering grounds of the world's largest wild flock of endangered whooping cranes, the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge attracts thousands of visitors to the Texas Gulf Coast each year, from casual birdwatchers to professional scientists. This naturalist's guide offers a comprehensive overview of the natural and cultural history of Aransas, taking an ecological approach to show how the plants, animals, land, and sea form a living web that sustains an amazing diversity of creatures. Individual chapters discuss the land itself, the whooping cranes and other endangered species, game animals, introduced species, mammals, birds, herptiles, fish, invertebrates, and woody and herbaceous plants. With this information, visitors to the refuge and everyone interested in the natural history of the Texas Gulf Coast will enrich their knowledge of this environmentally crucial region. |
Contents
The LandHow It Came to Be | 11 |
The LandWhere It Fits | 24 |
The LandHow It Works | 38 |
Copyright | |
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abundant acorns adults alligators Alophia animals Aransas National Wildlife Aransas Refuge Attwater's prairie chicken Big Tree Trail birds Blackjack Peninsula bluestem boardwalk brackish brown brown pelicans burrow Cattail clumps Coastal Bend common cordgrass coyotes crabs creatures Dagger Point deer dense ducks eastern edge egret feed feral hogs fish flock flowers freshwater frog grass grasshoppers green ground habitat hawk Heron Flats Trail hunting insects jaguarundi javelinas Jones Lake killifish larvae leaves live oak lizards male marsh Matagorda Island mosquito Mustang Lake National Wildlife Refuge nest numbers observation tower occasionally pelicans picnic area plants ponds population predators prey prickly raccoons ridge roadside rodents saltmarsh San Antonio Bay sand seen snake sparrow species spiders spot spring stalk stems summer Tatton Unit tern Texas Thomas Slough tidal flats Tour Loop turtles vegetation warbler white-tailed deer whoopers whooping cranes wild winter wood storks yaupon yellow