Brush Control

Posted Sun May 14, 2006 in Science

It’s been a kind of lazy day. It’s been busy, too, but not the same way many of my days go. Wife and I returned her BlackBerry 7290 this morning and traded it for an 8700c. She really likes the smaller form factor and the brighter, sharper screen. So, now we’re twins. She and Young Son are out running errands; I had a nap.

Thursday was an interesting day. I rose early (my norm), showered, and Wife and I went down to the lobby for “breakfast.” I found some cereal and she found something. We chatted about the day while we shared the morning meal.

I headed for the meeting about 0830. I wasn’t exactly sure where the facility was located, but had a good general idea. What I didn’t realize is that there are two facilities located north and west from San Angelo—one belonging to San Angelo State and the other the TAMU agricultural experiment station. I was fortunate. The janitor (the only person in the place) at the Angelo State facility knew where the other station was so I was able to get there on time.

The others trickled in while I visited with the technical folks at the station. Basically we chatted about university and the things that keep us busy.

The serious talk began after all gathered. After about an hour of discussions, we headed for the field for a tour of the two sub-watersheds of Grape Creek. We stopped numerous times to wander about and look at the watershed. I have a series of images and may make an album to share some of them.

I had a blast with the biologists. I enjoy hanging out with knowledgeable folks, no matter their discipline. I love watching people who are good at what they do and most academics naturally share their knowledge. I asked a lot of questions.

At one location, termed a Pecan motte, a couple of birds were upset by our presence. Although they look like turkey vultures, they were Zonetails. They don’t usually range as far north as San Angelo, so one of the biologists was pretty excited to find them. They had a nest in a huge old pecan tree. The image above is from my attempts to capture one of the birds.

Our hosts fed us and we ate in the field. Box lunches are great when you’re outdoors. The weather couldn’t have been better.

Later Oh yeah, brush control… I forgot to say anything about it. The conjecture is that if woody brush, particular juniper/salt cedar and mesquite are removed/managed from the site and natural grasses are substituted, then more water will be yielded by the watershed for other uses. That is, the conjecture is that woody brush uses more water than natural grasses.

This is a big deal, particularly in the semi-arid portions of the state. It is also not a simple problem because the dynamics of the hydrologic and biologic processes are complex. So, if we do a study, it will neither be cheap nor short-term. This kind of question requires a lot of data and work to resolve.

If I have time later today, I’ll put together an album of my images.