The efforts to study the riparian vegetation of the Lower Rio Grande Valley is a joint project between the University of Texas Pan American, the University of Texas at Austin Center for Space Research, and the University of Texas - San Antonio. With recent development of the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV), the amount of natural vegetation is thought to be declining. The purpose of this joint effort is to map the extent of the riparian vegetation and its changes over time. This will be done by using aerial videography (provided by USDA/Weslaco) and satellite imagery.
Background
The LRGV studied in the project extends aproximately 240 km from Falcon Dam to the mouth of the Rio Grande. Drs. Judd and Lonard have done extensive biological surveys of the area and are quite familiar with the native vegetation. For this project, eight testsites were selected and vegetation transects were run from the banks of the river to 50-100 meters inland.
1996 Estimates of Riparian Vegetation
Videography Classification of Testsites along the Lower Rio Grande
1. Boca Chica
2. Palmitto Hill (Old Water Plant)
3. Sabal Palm Sanctuary
4. Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge
5. Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge & Anzalduas Park
6. Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park
7. Salineno
8. La Joya; US Fish and Wildlife
Dominant Plant Species along Lower Rio Grande Valley at testsites
Trees:
| Prosopis glandulosa | Mesquite |
| Celtis laevigate | Hackberry |
| Ulmus crassifolia | Cedar Elm |
| Ehretia anacua | Anacua (Evergreen) |
| Salix nigra | Black Willow |
| Parkinsonia aculeata | Retama |
Shrubs:
| Avicenna germinans | Black Mangrove |
| Zanthoxylum fagara | "una de gato" Cats Claw |
| Celtis pallido | Spiny Hackberry |
| Mimosa pigra | Mimosa |
| Opuntia lindheimora | Prickly Pear |
| Prosopis glandulosa | Mesquite |
Grasses:
| Monothochloe littoralis | Shoregrass | Borrichia frutescens | Sea Oxeye | Panicum maximum | Guinea Grass | Cenchrus cilliaris | Buffalo Grass |