The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program, Audubon Texas, Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, and the Gorgas Science Foundation are working together to control exotic invasive grass on a colonial water bird rookery island in the lower Laguna Madre. Laguna Vista Spoil Island provides nesting habitat for terns, skimmers, herons, egrets and spoonbills. Much of the island has been invaded by Guinea grass, a non-native exotic grass that limits the available area for nesting birds. The goal of the project is to control the non-native grass and plant native brush to provide additional nesting habitat for herons, egrets and spoonbills. This project is part of a larger cooperative effort to enhance 400 acres of rookery island habitat on the Texas coast through vegetation management, predator control, and public outreach.
Working Together to Control Exotic Invasive Grass on a Colonial Water Bird Rookery Island in the Lower Laguna Madre
