Tamaulipan Ramadero

Geology

Widespread system on various geologic strata.

Landform

Upland drainages in various landscapes. Drainages are extremely flashy from runoff from surrounding landscape. These sites are infrequently flooded during local rainfall events, but because they accumulate runoff, they tend to be slightly more mesic in this otherwise xeric landscape.

Soils

Various upland soils (not Bottomland ecological site types), sometimes mapped specifically as Ramadero Ecological Site.

Parent Description

These woodlands are found along drainages (locally known as ramaderos) that are extremely flashy and are infrequently and briefly flooded during local rain events. The soils are typically clay loams or sandy clay loams, and moisture accumulation due to their topographic position promotes the development of a closed canopy (relative to the surrounding landscape) from 5 to 10 m in height. The overstory canopy is typically dominated by species such as Prosopis glandulosa (honey mesquite), Acacia farnesiana (huisache), Celtis ehrenbergiana (granjeno), and/or Parkinsonia aculeata (retama). Celtis laevigata (sugar hackberry) and/or Ebenopsis ebano (Texas ebony) may also be present in the canopy. Some sites have a relatively open subcanopy, but more commonly the shrub layer is thick, sometimes impenetrable, and varies in height from 1 to 5 m. Species commonly encountered in the shrub layer include Aloysia gratissima (whitebrush), Phaulothamnus spinescens (snake-eyes), Celtis ehrenbergiana (granjeno), Condalia hookeri (brasil), Forestiera angustifolia (desert olive), Diospyros texana (Texas persimmon), Ziziphus obtusifolia (lotebush), Koeberlinia spinosa (allthorn), Malpighia glabra (Barbados cherry), Zanthoxylum fagara (colima), Opuntia engelmannii var. lindheimeri (Lindheimer pricklypear), Guaiacum angustifolium (guayacan), Colubrina texensis (Texas hogplum), and Amyris texana (Texas torchwood). Ground cover can be sparse, or in more open stands, may have a fairly continuous grassy cover. Species encountered in the herbaceous layer include Clematis drummondii (old man's beard), Parietaria pensylvanica (cucumberweed), Salvia coccinea (tropical sage), Calyptocarpus vialis (straggler daisy), Rivina humilis (pigeonberry), Malvastrum americanum (Rio Grande false-mallow), Ruellia spp. (wild petunia), and Verbesina microptera (southern frostweed). Grasses include Trichloris pluriflora (multiflower false Rhodes grass), Bothriochloa barbinodis (cane bluestem), Bouteloua curtipendula (sideoats grama), Setaria scheelei (southwestern bristlegrass), Setaria macrostachya (bigstem bristlegrass), Setaria leucopila (plains bristlegrass), Chloris cucullata (hooded windmillgrass), Digitaria californica (Arizona cottontop), Pappophorum bicolor (pink pappusgrass), Bouteloua trifida (red grama), Bouteloua dactyloides (buffalograss), and Hilaria belangeri (curlymesquite). The introduced grasses Pennisetum ciliare (buffelgrass), Urochloa maxima (guineagrass), and Cynodon dactylon (bermudagrass) often dominate these sites, sometimes to the near exclusion of other herbaceous cover. This system may merge downstream with the Tamaulipan Floodplain system.