SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT 3

Southmost Preserve Nursery

Efforts to restore the Thornscrub forest in the South Texas/Northeast Mexico area continue to increase. The Nature Conservancy- one of 4 international conservation organizations- is among the agents setting the groundwork with its Southmost Preserve site, located in Brownsville, TX.

The collaboration of UTRGV with the Southmost Preserve was initiated a few years back with the work of faculty member Dr. Alejandro Fierro Cabo from the School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences and the Department of Biology, who works on developing restoration ecology theory.

During 2021, this collaboration expanded with the establishment of a native plant nursery involving students in conserving their natural environment.

Working with the Nature Conservancy and the US Fish and Wildlife to produce and plant over 15,000 seedlings in 2021, students from the Ecology Lab learned about threats to biodiversity, such as invasive species of grasses, how to implement research to test hypotheses of thorn forest reforestation, etc. They also planted native trees and shrubs adjacent to the UTRGV Pollinator Garden.

The degradation of natural habitats results in fewer ecosystem services. For this reason, the research and work of the Southmost nursery to preserve the Rio Grande Valley’s Thornscrub forest will be crucial for avoiding unsustainable solutions to environmental challenges.