THIS IS HOW WE REGENERATE KARST
and reduce the endless cycle of cedar clearing
 credit: Elizabeth McGreevy
SLOW THE RAIN
Texas karst country is prone to gully-washing rains. Slowing down overland water flows reduces erosive velocities and allows more water to soak into the soil to help hydrate vegetation to reduce fire risk, replenish groundwaters, and reduce downslope flooding. |
 credit: Elizabeth McGreevy
COVER THE GROUND
Dense vegetation cover protects and adds organic matter to shallow karst country soil. Sparse vegetation cover exposes soil to erosion and degradation. If you can see bare caliche between plants, it's not covered enough. Get the ground covered or keep it covered. |
 credit: Elizabeth McGreevy
REVIVE THE SOIL
Slower overland water flows and covered ground will support the revival of soil biology. Healthy Texas karst country soil can be identified by its darker color and ability to hold a loose ball when squeezed. |
PARTNER
Follow nature's lead and learn to work as partners.
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OLD-GROWTH
The most important step is to identify and protect all old-growth cover. This include grassland, forest, shinneries, riparian, and woodlands. THIS IS your green infrastructure, the key to biodiversity and sustained spring flows. |
CEDAR BRUSH
Cedar brush works to slow the rain, cover the ground, and revive the soils. This makes it part of the solution -- we need to learn to work with it, not fight it. |
DENSE COVER
Nature will always try to cover bare ground. Sparse vegetation cover exposes the soil to erosion and water and nutrient losses, especially when exposed to our heavy rains, hot summers, and long droughts. |
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LANDFORMS
Instead of burning or hauling away your slash (cut woody brush), arrange it on contour (see contour brakes under mimic) or form small brush piles for wildlife. |
SINKHOLES
Unplugging and fencing off sinkholes will increase aquifer recharge and reduce overland flows. Vegetation cover must be maximized to reduce sediment load into sinkholes. |
SOIL MICROBES
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BRUSH HERDS
A form of silvopasture, fire herding strategically moves grazing animals through woodlands and forest to reduce fire risk, improve soil health, and increase biodiversity storage capacity. |
DUNG BEETLES
Dung Beetles move cow poop into the ground. This improves soil health. Conventional agriculture tends to harm these good guys. We need to support the work they do. |
BEAVERS
Beavers are nature's civil engineers. Learn to work with beavers to regenerate creeks and rivers and increase groundwater supplies and quality, and reduce downslope flooding. |
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FIRE
Fire should not be your primary management tool. Frequent prescribed burns can deplete soil carbon. Avoid burning degraded Texas karst country. Strategic periodic (not frequent) fire could be used for regenerated karst country. |
JUMPSTART
Add materials to jumpstart regeneration for more degraded karst country.
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SHRED BRUSH
Where there's too much slash, shred it to keep organic matter on site, keep the ground covered, and use it to slow down stormwater flows. Learn how to do it the right way. |
CAGE
Historically, as large herds of White-tailed Deer roamed open prairies, they browsed woody plants to benefit grasses. Today these deer exist in scattered herds in woodlands and forests where they continue to eat emerging browse species. This doesn't help woodlands and forests. |
SPREAD SEED
Degraded soils lose most of their natural seed bank when eroded. Adding native seeds to degraded soils will enhance biodiversity over time. |
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PASTURE CROP
Pasture cropping is the process of over-seeding with aggressive, deep-rooted plants after removing vegetation (such as hay). This process can also be used to regenerate depleted fields. |
PLANT
Use seedlings and cuttings, not larger root-bound container grown plants. |
ADD CASTINGS
Earthworm castings are jam-packed with nutrients. They can be made into a worm tea that can be spread. |
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TWEAK SOIL MICROBES
When you remove woody brush such as Mountain Cedars, the soil will favor woody growth more than grass growth. You will need to tweak your soil biome to favor grass over the long-term. |
MIMIC
Use methods, tools, and machines to mimic what nature is trying to do.
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CONTOUR BRAKES
Texas karst country uses stair-step terracing to slow-down gully-washing rains. We need to install features, such as berms/swales, gabions, and windrows, that mimic this at the smaller scale to hydrate degraded karst country. |
ADAPTIVE GRAZING
In nature, herds intermingle and keep moving. This is nature's way to keep herds and lands healthy. |
MULTI-SPECIES GRAZING
In nature, there is never just one species of grazer. Integrating multiple species keeps rangelands more healthy. |
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SPRAY MANURE-BASED MICROBES + MOW
Not every landowner wants livestock on their land. But prairie grasses still need to be managed as if grazers are there. That is, we need to mimic grazing. |
PHYTOREMEDIATE
Use vegetation and soil microbes to clean up contaminated sites. This is a less costly, greener solution to excavation/fill or covering with imported soil. |
