The 200-acre Stengl “Lost Pines” Biological Station,
55 minutes southeast of campus, is the newest field research site
available to students and faculty in Zoology. The property,
almost one mile long and a half mile wide, contains a pond and
one of the permanent springs of J. D. Creek, a tributary of the
Colorado River. The site combines the characteristics of the
typical grasslands and woodlands of central Texas, the
oak-dominated temperate deciduous regions of eastern Texas, and
also relict elements of the pine forest which dominated the area
5,000 years ago. The “Lost Pines” area, because of its
rolling topography, sandy substrates, and permanent springs, has
retained the westernmost stands of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda)
and bog-associated flowering plants, ferns, and bryophytes. This
rich combination of Texas vegetation typical of old moister
habitats with xeric elements which have since come in from the
south provides an outstanding natural laboratory for studies in
ecology and evolutionary biology. There has been no logging in
the area for many years, and grazing has been light. The complex
management for the maintenance of some habitats, and for allowing
natural regeneration to take place in others, will be integrated
with the long-term research and educational goals developed for
the area. To facillitate the development of a management plan,
biological inventory surveys are currently being conducted. The
availability of overnight accommodation for up to 10 people with
austere but modern living facilities makes the field station a
valuable resource for education and training in ecology and
conservation biology.
The property, house, and
outbuildings were donated to The University of Texas at Austin in
September 1991 by UT alumna Dr.
Lorraine “Casey” Stengl (196K). In this photo, Dr.
Lawrence E. Gilbert, Director of Brackenridge Field Laboratory
through which Stengl Station is administered, presents Dr. Stengl
with a photographic momento of the occasion. Dr. Stengl has
degrees in chemistry, education, and medicine and was in general
practice as a physician in El Campo, Texas for 25 years. Her
other generous endowments to the Department of Zoology generate
$15,000/year for graduate fellowships.
Ongoing Research
The cricket frogs of the area have been studied
by Dr.
Michael Ryan and his graduate students, as they pose some
interesting evolutionary problems. Their forms have diverged from
east Texas conspecifics, but their calls are very similar,
suggesting that selection for mating calls may be due to
convergence associated with the similarity in the environmental
conditions to which the two populations are exposed.
John Crutchfield, Lorraine Wyer, Casey Stengl, and James Gillaspy
Dr. James Gillaspy has collected and curated moths from this area. The current moth species list is available here.
Surveys of plants and animals (mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds) in the research area were initiated by Dr. Naomi Cappuccino and the UT Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology. Dr. Phil Schappert and his wife, Pat, are currently residing at the station and are continuing these surveys, especially of butterflies, insects, arachnids and other invertebrates.
Dr. James Major's research has examined the differences between genetic and cultural transmission across and through an avian hybrid zone, the Black-crested and Gray-crested forms of the Tufted Titmouse.
Teaching
Courses that use the Stengl “Lost Pines” Biological Station for teaching purposes include:
Plant Ecology (Lab., BOT 173L) Picture
Field Ecology (Lab., Studies in Population and Environmental
Biology, BIO208)
Basic Ecology (ZOO369) Pictures
Conservation Biology (ZOO370c)
Vertebrate Natural History (ZOO436).
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All contents Copyright (C) Phil Schappert, 1997-1998. All
rights reserved.
Comments to: philjs@mail.utexas.edu
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Last revised: April 27, 1998
