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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Terrestrial Snail Communities Of The Lower Rio Grande Valley Are Affected By Human Disturbance And Correlate With Vegetation Community Composition, Briante S. Lewis Najev, Alison Schofield, Raziel I. Flores, Benjamin T. Hutchins, J. Andrew Mcdonald, Kathryn E. Perez
Terrestrial Snail Communities Of The Lower Rio Grande Valley Are Affected By Human Disturbance And Correlate With Vegetation Community Composition, Briante S. Lewis Najev, Alison Schofield, Raziel I. Flores, Benjamin T. Hutchins, J. Andrew Mcdonald, Kathryn E. Perez
Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations
The lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas (LRGV) contains a unique, subtropical, semiarid floodplain with most of the few remaining Tamaulipan thorn forests in the United States. Less than 2% of Tamaulipan thorn forest remains, with urban and agricultural conversion potentially threatening diverse plant and animal communities native to the habitat. We performed vegetative community surveys and conducted a comprehensive survey of terrestrial snail communities in intact (refugia sites, minimally altered in recent times) and altered (previously cleared and regrown or restored) Tamaulipan thorn forest habitats of the LRGV. In a comparison of intact and altered sites that have comparable …
Aerial Detection Of Waste Disposal Sites Near Donna Reservoir In South Texas., C. F. Webster, James H. Everitt, D. E. Escobar, M. R. Davis
Aerial Detection Of Waste Disposal Sites Near Donna Reservoir In South Texas., C. F. Webster, James H. Everitt, D. E. Escobar, M. R. Davis
Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations
Aerial color-infrared (CIR) photography was used to detect and catalog unauthorized solid waste disposal sites around Donna Reservoir in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) of southern Texas. Qualitative visual evaluation of the positive transparencies showed 25 possible disposal sites randomly scattered throughout the study area, located in sites ranging from bare soil to grass and mixed brush/woods. These sites were transposed onto a computer-generated area map for ground survey confirmation and use by organizations planning to clean-up the sites. Ground-truthing was used to identify waste contents at each site and to estimate waste volumes and areas covered. Unauthorized solid …