My Quest to Find the Elusive Texas Alligator Lizard
On a warm spring morning a few years ago, I ducked into a rock shelter on Austin’s Barton Creek Greenbelt while taking a walk. Sunlight cut through the live oaks and painted the walls of the limestone canyons. Only as I stood up to leave did I see it: a slender, serpentine lizard sitting on a ledge, its armored back banded in orange and white, its narrow face and glittering eyes set in an expression of faint distaste.
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Roads now featuring lovestruck turtles ignoring traffic laws
As spring blankets Texas in a wave of blooming wildflowers and budding trees, another seasonal sign is quietly creeping across roads and highways: turtles on the move. Oblivious to traffic and speed limits, these slow but determined travelers are part of a natural rhythm tied to the warmer months: a journey driven by the urge to mate and nest.
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Successful Reintroduction of the Reticulated Flatwood Salamander
One of the world’s largest and most experienced providers of timberland investment services recently achieved a groundbreaking conservation milestone by successfully reintroducing the federally listed reticulated flatwood salamander (Ambystoma bishopi) in collaboration with multiple agencies and partners.
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Texas A&M AgriLife fills critical knowledge gaps on javelina
NRI researchers are laying the foundation for the science-based management and conservation of javelinas, or collared peccary. Until recently, this native species seemed overshadowed by other Texas wildlife and plagued by misconceptions.
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The Winter Sourcebook Volume VI is here
Directly from the field, the Winter 2025 NRI Sourcebook is here. Each season, we publish a digital collection of recently published peer-reviewed scientific publications, research reports, and resources developed to support the improvement of conservation, natural resource management, and private land stewardship. This collection is for you, your partners and community to use and share where we can collaborate to create resiliency.
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Updates and trends in landowner demographics and their relationship with wildlife management
NRI released a new Texas Landowner Survey (TLS) report, Updates and Trends in Landowners Demographics and their Relationship with Wildlife Management, with fresh insights on the Texas general population, land and wildlife stewardship and tax incentives. Most significantly, the report reveals that 49 percent of Texas operations are managed by just two landowners, which will be a critical consideration related to intergenerational land transfers, an aging landowner population and the potential for loss of land management knowledge and experience.
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Scientist Q&A with Dr. Sarah Turner
Like many scientists, Research Assistant Professor Dr. Sarah Turner, took a circuitous route to find her passion. We had the opportunity to sit down with her to learn more about her academic background—brimming with brilliant mentors, interesting internships and lots of challenging work—her education, fieldwork, and her future endeavors as she moves into an instructional role at Texas A&M.
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The Fall Sourcebook is Here
Directly from the field, the Fall 2024 NRI Sourcebook is here. Each year, we publish a digital collection of recently published peer-reviewed scientific publications, research reports, and resources developed to support the improvement of conservation, natural resource management, and private land stewardship. This collection is for you, your partners and community to use and share where we can collaborate to create resiliency.
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Millions of bats call Texas home sweet home
Everything is indeed bigger in Texas, including its bat colonies. Texas has 33 species of bats, more than any other state, and is home to the largest bat colony in the world.
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Bighorn Sheep Relocation in Sonora, Mexico
Mountain sheep (Ovis spp.) abundance across North America has declined more than 60% from historic times due to factors such as overgrazing, habitat fragmentation, and disease transmission from domestic livestock and exotic species.
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