THE WEST GULF COASTAL PLAIN ECOREGIONAL CONSERVATION PLAN PREPARED BY West Gulf Coastal Plain Ecoregional Planning Team The Nature Conservancy July 2003 This document may be cited as follows: The Nature Conservancy. 2003. The West Gulf Coastal Plain Ecoregional Conservation Plan. West Gulf Coastal Plain Ecoregional Planning Team, The Nature Conservancy, San Antonio, TX, USA. To build a city, one must have three things—the knowledge, the means, and the will. If one has all three, the grandest of cathedrals can arise. In the absence of any one, the meanest of huts will fail. To rebuild the land requires the same three things—the knowledge, the means, and the will. --Joe Truett and Daniel Lay, Land of Bears and Honey TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES...............................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ vii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................ viii CHAPTER 1: ECOREGIONAL PLANNING AND THE WEST GULF COASTAL PLAIN 1.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................1 1.1.1 Protecting Biodiversity within Ecoregions....................................................1 1.1.2 The Ecoregional Planning Process ................................................................2 1.2 West Gulf Coastal Plain ........................................................................................4 1.2.1 An Ecological Description of the Ecoregion ...............................................4 1.2.2 West Gulf Coastal Plain Subregions............................................................8 1.2.3 The Human Context...................................................................................10 1.3 Historical Factors Influencing the Biodiversity of the Ecoregion...................13 1.3.1 Terrestrial Systems ......................................................................................13 1.3.2 Aquatic Systems...........................................................................................15 CHAPTER 2: ELEMENTS OF CONSERVATION DESIGN 2.1 Background Information .........................................................................................17 2.1.1 Planning Team Structure .............................................................................17 2.1.2 Project Timeline...........................................................................................18 2.2 Planning Data and Guidelines .................................................................................19 2.2.1 Conservation Targets ...................................................................................19 2.2.2 Viability Guidelines.....................................................................................24 2.2.3 Conservation Goals......................................................................................27 iii West Gulf Coastal Plain Ecoregional Plan July 2003 CHAPTER 3: THE ECOREGIONAL PORTFOLIO DESIGN 3.1 Designing the Portfolio .............................................................................................30 3.1.1 Method of Assembly....................................................................................30 3.2 The Resulting Portfolio Design................................................................................34 3.2.1 Success in Meeting Target Conservation Goals ........................................34 3.2.2 Conservation Area Analysis ......................................................................40 3.2.3 Designing Functional Conservation Areas ................................................41 CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION 4.1 Implementing the Ecoregional Plan...................................................................44 LITERATURE CITED ...............................................................................................................45 APPENDICES A. Glossary of Terms ....................................................................................................48 B. Rarity Category Definitions ....................................................................................51 C. West Gulf Coastal Plain Conservation Targets.....................................................53 D. Species Removed from Conservation Target Lists ...............................................70 E. List of Viable Conservation Target Occurrences..................................................73 F. List of Conservation Areas with Viable Target Occurrences ..............................97 G. Geographic Scale of Biodiversity ..........................................................................126 H. Terrestrial Ecological Systems of the West Gulf Coastal Plain.........................130 iv West Gulf Coastal Plain Ecoregional Plan July 2003 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES TABLES Table 1. WGCP Ecoregional Planning Timeline.................................................................18 Table 2. Rarity of Species Conservation Targets in the West Gulf Coastal Plain...............21 Table 3. Geographical distribution of conservation targets in the West Gulf Coastal Plain ..........................................................................................................22 Table 4. Spatial scales criteria for West Gulf Coastal Plain ecoregional conservation targets ...............................................................................................23 Table 5. Conservation goal guidelines for species targets in the West Gulf Coastal Plain ..........................................................................................................28 Table 6. Conservation goal guidelines for terrestrial community targets in the West Gulf Coastal Plain.........................................................................................28 Table 7. Progress toward meeting goals for terrestrial communities by spatial scale .........37 Table 8. Progress toward meeting goals for terrestrial communities by geographic distribution.............................................................................................................38 Table 9. Success in achieving animal target conservation goals by taxonomic group........39 Table 10. Functional landscapes in the West Gulf Coastal Plain ecoregion .........................42 Table 11. Characteristics of the top ten biologically rich conservation areas .......................43 FIGURES Figure 1. The Nature Conservancy’s conservation process ....................................................3 Figure 2. Map of the West Gulf Coastal Plain ecoregion .......................................................5 Figure 3. Subregions of the West Gulf Coastal Plain .............................................................9 Figure 4. 1997 population by county/parish in the West Gulf Coastal Plain ecoregion.......11 Figure 5. 1997 population density for counties/parishes in the West Gulf Coastal Plain ecoregion ......................................................................................................12 Figure 6. Percent change in population from 1990 to 1997 for counties/parishes in the West Gulf Coastal Plain ecoregion........................................................................12 Figure 7. Distribution of conservation targets among the four spatial scales .......................24 Figure 8. Development of the preliminary conservation area map for the West Gulf Coastal Plain ..........................................................................................................32 Figure 9. Portfolio map of conservation areas in the West Gulf Coastal Plain ecoregion....35 Figure 10. Success of the conservation area portfolio in meeting ecoregional conservation goals .......................................................................................................................36 Figure 11. Conservation targets not represented in the ecoregional portfolio, by target type ..............................................................................................................36 v West Gulf Coastal Plain Ecoregional Plan July 2003 Figure 12. Summary of progress toward achieving terrestrial community target conservation goals..................................................................................................37 Figure 13. Summary of progress toward achieving animal conservation target goals ...........39 Figure 14. Summary of progress toward meeting plant conservation target goals….............40 Figure 15. Proportion of terrestrial- and aquatic-dominated conservation areas....................41 vi West Gulf Coastal Plain Ecoregional Plan July 2003 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The successful completion of the ecoregional conservation plan for the West Gulf Coastal Plain would not have been possible without the diligent, flexible, and concerted effort of the numerous individuals who assisted along the way as members of the ecoregional planning team and in other capacities. Of particular note have been the numerous contributions of current and former staff of The Nature Conservancy, including Debbie Benesh, Jim Bergan, Bill Carr, Susan Carr, David Certain, Heidi Christoffel, Amalie Couvillion, Aliya Ercelawn, Troy Ettel, Rob Evans, Mark Gallyoun, Steve Gilbert, Ray Johnson, Wendy Ledbetter, Richard Martin, Russell McDowell, Ike McWhorter, John