Comparison of Native Brushland, Replanted, And Unaided Secondary Succession Plant Communities in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas‪.‬

Abstract Agriculture and urban development have destroyed 95% of native brushland habitat in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) of south Texas. Therefore, habitat restoration is an important issue in the LRGV. Since 1982, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been replanting areas in the LRGV to native brushland species to establish a wildlife corridor along the lower reach of the Rio Grande. Vegetation composition of a mature brushland, a replanted habitat and an unaided secondary succession site (fallow field) were examined at one locale in the LRGV in 1999. The mature brushland edge plot had the highest species richness (43) followed by the replanted edge plot (37), mature brushland interior (35), replanted interior plot (33) and fallow field interior (12) and edge (11) plots. Edge and interior plots in the same habitat were similar in species composition (mature brushland, 74%; replanted, 63%; fallow field, 70%). Community similarity was greater for mature brushland and replanted habitats (47%) than th e mature brushland and fallow field (32%), or the replanted and fallow field habitats (28%). These data suggest that current replanting techniques used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the LRGV achieve a more diverse plant community in a shorter length of time than unaided secondary succession of fallow fields.