COASTAL PRAIRIES

Below you can find a variety of resources for teaching about Houston’s native prairie habitat in your learning environment.

Overview | Benefits | Conservation | Wildlife | Cultural Connections

Local Resources | Activities/Lessons | Videos | Build a Pocket Prairie

Overview

Before becoming a city, Houston was once a coastal prairie ecosystem. The coastal prairie ecosystem once blanketed more than 70% of what we now think of as Greater Houston. Now this vibrant ecosystem is imperiled.

“Prairies are the quintessential Texas landscape. It forged our cowboys, built our economy, fed us, and clothed us. Heck, it even helped us win the Battle of San Jacinto. In Greater Houston, it played a huge role in our development, both culturally and economically.” -Jaime González, The Nature Conservancy in Texas

Sounds from the Prairie

Overview Video about the Prairies

Maps of the Coastal Prairie Ecosystem

Coastal Prairie Once Covered Most of Greater Houston. Courtesy of Katy Prairie Conservancy.

Coastal Prairie Once Covered Most of Greater Houston. Courtesy of Katy Prairie Conservancy.

Historic Range of Coastal Prairie Ecosystem. Courtesy of Katy Prairie Conservancy.

Historic Range of Coastal Prairie Ecosystem. Courtesy of Katy Prairie Conservancy.

Our area once burned every one to three years.

Our area once burned every one to three years.

Benefits

Native Prairies Association of Texas lists the benefits of native prairie ecosystems in remnant and pocket prairies

  1.  Flood mitigation and control.  Roots up to 15 feet deep absorb and store up to 250,000 gallons of rainwater per acre during a heavy rain event.  This is 14 times more than lawn grass.

  2. Water quality improvement as the roots filter pollutants from run off

  3.  Prairie plant roots can refill aquafers (watch Water from Stone on YouTube)

  4. Air quality improvement as the plants absorb pollutants from the air

  5. Sequester more carbon than trees, can store up to 50 tons of carbon per acre 

  6. Preservation of biodiversity

  7. Source of food, nectar and habitat for our native pollinators

  8.  Source of host plants for Monarchs and other native pollinators

  9.  Source of food and habitat for native reptiles and mammals

  10.  Source of food and habitat for migrating and resident birds

  11.  Preservation of rare or nearly extinct plants

  12.  Mitigate the heat effect from concrete

  13.  Serve as an educational tool for Science, Math and History

  14.  Can survive drought

  15.  Require no irrigation, decreasing water costs

  16.  Require only 1 mowing per year, decreasing maintenance costs

  17.  Require no fertilizer or pesticides, decreasing maintenance costs

  18.  More economical than corn as livestock food

  19.  Source of native seed for new pocket prairies

  20.  Recreation and play

  21.  Aesthetics and landscaping

  22.  Helps patients heal more rapidly (MD Anderson doctors prescribe a walk in their pocket prairie to both patients and staff)

Conservation

Why Texas native prairies are important and need to be saved!

Wildlife

The rich native plant communities of the tallgrass prairies provide food and shelter for wildlife. Grassland birds, like quail and meadowlarks, are experiencing the greatest declines of all bird groups due to the loss of our prairies and grasslands.  Read more from Audubon.

Recent studies show a decline in insects like the Monarch butterfly, bees and other pollinators. These native insects thrive on the diverse plant life of the prairie ecosystem. In turn, insects provide food sources to prairie wildlife and help pollinate the flowering plants of the prairie. Our pollinators are needed for their service to agriculture as well. Read more about insect decline.

Prairies and Pollinators

Deep prairie soils allow burrowing animals, prairie dogs (a keystone species) to survive in underground tunnel systems. There are lots of burrowing animals in prairies!

https://texasprairie.org/why-prairies-matter/

Cultural Connections

“Native Land Digital creates spaces where non-Indigenous people can be invited and challenged to learn more about the lands they inhabit, the history of those lands, and how to actively be part of a better future going forward together.” Visit this interactive map.

Local Resources

Visit a prairie near you! Search the map for locations.

Activities/Lessons

Elementary & Middle School

High-School Level Prairie Lessons and Activities (Carolyn Klein, Westside High School - Houston ISD)

Printable Resources

http://www.katyprairie.org/ Photographs by Carolyn Fannon, Michael Morton with Special Thanks to MD Anderson Cancer Research Center Video provided by Texas Parks & Wildlife and Ten West Digital Media

Urbanization has reduced the once 600,000 acre Katy Prairie near Houston, Texas to just 200,000 acres affecting many species of wildlife. Now the Katy Prairie Conservancy has partnered with nearly a dozen schools to create pocket prairies.

Texas Masters Naturalist and Master Gardener Tom Solomon teaches about sowing native coastal prairie plant seeds. This video is part of the Coastal Prairie Plant Grower's Handbook Series.
Della Barbato, Director of Education for the Native Prairies Association of Texas talks to kids about why insects are so interesting and important to us.
Della Barbato, Director of Education for the Native Prairies Association of Texas takes us on a spring plant walk at Lawther-Deer Park Prairie. She will intr...
Della Barbato, Director of Education for the Native Prairies Association of Texas and volunteer Chuck Duplant give you a closer look at some insects that are...
After 2 years of cover crops, soil remediation, and native seed planting, the Tiger Prairie is born! The Tiger Prairie is a restoration and outdoor classroom...
Della Barbato, Director of Education for the Native Prairies Association of Texas shows you how to turn wildflowers into a piece of art by pressing them.