Reflections on the Biodiversity Quiz
When I looked at the quiz, I realized that I do not have much knowledge of ecology in general. I could tell you that San Antonio receives more rain than El Paso but less than Houston, but I had no idea of the specific measures (its 47.79 inches, I looked it up). The same generalization went into items such as the growing season, which I know from living in north Texas is actually the majority of the year, but until I researched and found that it essentially encapsulates everything from March to the end of December, I could not have given specific dates.
One thing I am interested to further into are the questions regarding urban ecology such as tracing the process that precipitation water goes under in order to become drinkable and reach our homes. I would not think that San Antonio receives enough rainfall to sustain every person in the city, but I honestly do not know what the processes are like. I think this question will be particularly interesting because the San Antonio river is such a large part of the region’s ecosystem and biodiversity, culture and history, and tourism industry. I know from previous research that many conservation projects focus on maintain the river systems, so I am interested to see whether the city uses river water to feed taps as well, or how often the city is affected by high water levels from rainfall. The topic of garbage disposal is also salient to this, and another thing I want to look into to see how the people are affecting the region. Analyzing what has already been done to the land (through pollution and waste produce) and what steps, if any, are being taken to remedy, clean and revitalize will provide more insight into city planning for future sustainability.
Looking at the history of the region, I do know some about the cultural influences of Spain and Mexico which have left their marks in the form of the nationally recognized and protected Missions sites. Texas as a whole was also a site of cattle trails, and although the stockyards all closed in San Antonio, this history signals to me that the land is likely clay (because of the building of the missions) and loamy (for cattle rising). However, I do not know what the primary subsistence techniques would have been for people living before the age of the cattle drive or even if San Antonio has many edible plants for harvesting that would have made for non-animal based sustenance. I am also unsure of what primary ecological event or process might have influenced this land beyond the proximity it has to the river and the history of cattle ranching. Furthermore, while this land-type affect the plant and wildlife biodiversity in the region, blue bonnets and grasses are the only plants that I can immediately name as native and thriving in the region, but I am interested to see how them past land use might have affected the growth of biodiversity. I do know that the San Antonio Riverwalk, being a site of the World Fair held in the area in 1996, has a great diversity of plants that have been brought in to represent the biodiversity of the region as a whole. However, I do not know if all the plants represented are native to San Antonio or were simply symbolic of the possibility of sustained diversity.
Finally, because I have been looking at bird conservatories in the region, I have a bit of an ideas as to the amazing roadrunners, vultures, woodpeckers and hummingbirds that live in the region. Because I was unsure about what species of birds were considered native versus migratory, I did look this up, and in the process discovered something very interesting. While the list of native bird species is extensive, the migratory path through San Antonio is apparently very dangerous for birds because of the geography. This is something worth exploring more to see the intertwined affect of natural geography and human building on the animal diversity of the area.
San Antonio 