Quail Forever Habitat Work Benefits Shallow Wetlands, Local Communities and Upland Birds
By Gilbert Randolph
Water is a precious commodity on the Great Plains. Kansas, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico Nebraska and Oklahoma all share a unique geographical feature that helps life hold on in these arid landscapes. They are called playas. Quail Forever is working with local landowners, the Playa Lakes Joint Venture, state fish and game agencies and other partners to protect these vital ecological sites for generations to come.
Playas are shallow, ephemeral wetlands that are unique to the western Great Plains. They are naturally formed and because they were carved from the plains over thousands of years, they cannot be replicated. The clay that makes up these basins is a major site for water infiltration into the Ogallala Aquifer, which is the largest underground source of freshwater for the Great Plains. This aquifer supports over 30% of U.S. crops and livestock across 8 states and the playas that feed the Ogallala aquifer are home to at least 185 bird species, 450 plant species, 13 amphibian species, and 37 mammal species at some point in their life-cycle. As the aquifer has seen significant declines, communities across the plains have recognized the need to protect playas and the wildlife that depend on them.
In Texas, many of these playas have been degraded due to erosion coming from agricultural fields, the loss of grassland buffers and other factors. Simply put, as rain hits the landscape, it washes sediment into the playa and fills it up. This takes away its ability to effectively recharge the aquifer with rainwater and makes it less useable for wildlife. In arid landscapes such as northwest Texas, wildlife and local communities alike depend on the water from the Ogallala aquifer.
Playas not only provide vital water resources, they create areas of significant biodiversity that benefit Pheasant, Scaled and Bobwhite quail among other wildlife.
“There’s generally a kind of buffer zone or transitional zone between the wetland plants and the upland plants, in the dry or in the wet state” says Nolan Talkington, Quail Forever coordinating wildlife biologist for the Texas Panhandle. “In that zone you’ll have high biodiversity of forbs and grasses that are beneficial for a variety of wildlife.”
Restoring playas that have been filled with sediment involves scraping or dredging the wetlands to remove the top layer of sediment. This exposes the clay soil which forms cracks and fissures during dry periods and then soaks up rainwater in wet periods. Quail Forever works through the Texas Playa Lakes Conservation Initiative (Texas PCI) to fund much of this work. Ducks Unlimited is a significant partner in the region for doing these sorts of wetland restoration projects.
“Quail Forever has been a great partner in playa restoration,” says Tavin Dotson, playa lakes regional biologist for Ducks Unlimited. “They often connect us with landowners who want to see restoration work done on their land and are able to secure funding that contributes to the larger partnership we have across the playa lakes region.”
Quail Forever’s work establishing upland buffers helps to keep playas from filling back up with sediment, provides nesting cover for quail and Pheasant and creates a food base of insects, grasses and forbs. This habitat work is often accomplished through the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).
Through the Texas Playa Conservation Initiative, Quail Forever and its partners have completed 109 restoration projects, totaling 3,894 acres. This equates to 243 million gallons of groundwater recharge annually alongside $305,537 allotted in landowner conservation incentives. Quail Forever hopes to continue this partnership and strengthen its ability to protect and restore playa lakes and the uplands that surround them.
Learn more about playas by visiting the Playa Lakes Joint Venture and Ogallala Commons. Landowners interested in conservation work in the playa lakes region in northwest Texas can contact Nolan Talkington at ntalkington@quailforever.org.