Pringle Creek is the core aquatic site for Domain 11- the Southern Plains. This creek is a small wadeable stream located in Wise County, 2.4 miles west of Alvord, TX.
Surface area, elevation & depth
Pringle Creek is located at an altitude of 242 meters and drains a watershed of 18.1 km2 of mixed oak forest, savanna, and riparian woodland. Portions of the Pringle Creek watershed are protected by the Caddo-LBJ National Grassland.
Pringle Creek is a low gradient sandy-bottomed stream. Due to this sandy substrate the stream banks are highly erodible. The primary soils of the Wise County area surrounding Pringle Creek are comprised of gently sloping neutral to slightly acidic soils formed from weathered sandstones and shales on upland and terrace savannahs (Ressel, 1989). The Truce-Cona and Windthorst-Chaney-Seldon series soils of the Pringle Creek watershed are deep, loamy, and sandy moderately well drained to well drained soils underlain by shaly clay or sand-stone material (USDA, 1989).
The surface water flow regime of Pringle Creek has similar attributes that that of semi-arid waterways. Stream discharge exhibits strong seasonal patterns, with the greatest base and pulse flows observed in mid to late spring (May through June). Throughout the rest of the year, base flows remain low but episodic high flow events associated with storms may occur at any point. Areas of the stream dry up significantly during the summer leaving behind disconnected standing pools. This seasonal drying may be exacerbated by nearby ground and surface water withdrawals for irrigation.
Nearby land management
Land use in the Pringle Creek watershed consists of a mosaic of grassland, cropland, light urban development and deciduous forest. The grasslands in the watershed are managed for wildfire using prescribed burns every 3-4 years.
The dense riparian canopy surrounding Pringle Creek is a mixed oak forest. Dominant species of the mixed oak forest area include post oak and black-jack oak. However, the savannah portions of watershed are dominated by little blue stem co-associated with big blue stem and Indiangrass (USDA, 2009).
USDA. Soil Conservation Service. and Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. General Soil Map, Wise County, Texas, Map, 1989; (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth130330/ : accessed December 17, 2015), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department, Denton, Texas.
Ressel, Dennis D., United States. Soil Conservation Service., and Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. Soil Survey of Wise County, Texas, Book, 1989; (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth130257/ : accessed December 17, 2015), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department, Denton, Texas.
USDA Forest Service. 2009. 2007 Five-Year Review and Recommendations: National Forests and Grasslands in Texas Revised Forest Land and Resource Management Plan.