DFW Urban Wildlife

There are a multitude of different habitats suitable for urban wildlife in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area. The pictures on this page are examples of specific habitat types as defined for the purposes of this web site.

Agricultural

This is land that is used for agricultural production of crops. Farm land can be in any state of cultivation, harvesting, off-season use, or disuse.

Grassy fields or semi-wooded areas used for grazing by domestic farm and ranch animals.

Property used primarily for the purpose of raising large herds of domestic animals. Cattle, horses, and sheep are typical in the DFW area.

Commercial

A parcel of land designed to accommodate aircraft traffic. Usually equipped with runways, control towers, hangars, aircraft maintenance and refueling facilities, and facilities for passengers and cargo.

An area of commercial development designed to facilitate company offices and light industrial businesses. Usually comprised of a number of single-story or two-story buildings.

A commercial building four or more stories tall used for house offices of various type. High Rise buildings are often accompanied by parking lots, parking garages, and landscaped grounds.

Any commercial development designed for industrial, manufacturing or warehousing use.

A placed used for solid waste disposal in which refuse is buried between layers of dirt so as to fill in or reclaim low-lying ground.

A large, enclosed shopping complex with retail stores and restaurants. Usually surrounded by large parking lots and/or parking garages, and landscaped grounds.

Any commercial development used for the purpose of retail sales. Examples include strip malls, gas stations, restaurants, and other stand alone establishments.

Community

A tract of land used as a burial site and memorial park.

Campuses of churches, schools, libraries, civic, municipal, and government buildings.

Downtown

The downtown area of a large city. For the purposes of this web site only downtown Dallas and Fort Worth meet the criteria for this habitat category.

The old downtown section of the small cities in and around the DFW area.

Military

A tract of land belonging to one or more branches of the United States military in use as a center of organization, supply, activity, and headquarters.

Recreation

A large tract of property landscaped for playing golf. Golf Courses are often built near lakes, rivers and other heavily wooded areas.

An area of land set aside for public recreation. May include a playground area, tennis courts, trails and other facilities designed to accommodate outdoor activities. Parks are often built in the low areas near creeks and river as these areas are not appropriate of other uses due to their tendency to flood during stormy weather.

Land developed to facilitate athletic competitions. Baseball diamonds, soccer fields and football fields are commonly found in DFW area sports complexes.

Residential

Apartments, condominiums, duplexes and any other residential property designed to provide private living space to more than one family.

In the DFW metroplex Single-Family residences are usually found in large master-planned subdivision. This category also includes any other type of single-family household.

Thoroughfare

A major thoroughfare were entry and exiting are not controlled by ramps. Texas Farm to Market Roads, State Highways and US Highways are typically Full Access Highways.

Typified by the Interstate Highway System, Limited Access Highways control ingress through the use of entrance ramps, exit ramps, underpasses and overpasses. This type of highway usually has multiple divided lanes and handles a large amount of traffic.

These are the main roads in a community. They are often divided with multiple lanes.

A road composed of parallel steel rails supported by ties and providing a track for locomotives. Train track often run through undeveloped areas in the DFW metroplex providing prime habitat for urban wildlife.

Smaller roads that run through residential subdivisions and other areas. These roads usually facilitate light traffic.

Undeveloped

A broad tract of generally tree-less land usually covered with grasses and brush of various types.

Undeveloped land that is covered with a mixture of grasses, shrubs and trees.

A Parcel of undeveloped land graded and otherwise prepared for future building. A Vacant Lot will usually receive regular grounds maintenance.

A tract of undeveloped landed with an abundance of trees as the dominate feature. In the DFW metroplex Wooded areas are frequently found in close proximity to creeks, rivers and other large bodies of water.

Water

These are low lying areas of land that are seasonally covered with water. Marshes are grassy areas flooded with slow moving water. Swamps occur in more wooded areas. Bogs are differentiated from Marshes and Swamps by their standing water and poor drainage.

A small stream, often a shallow or intermittent tributary to a river.

A low plain adjacent to a river that is formed chiefly of river sediment and is subject to flooding.

A large inland body of fresh water or salt water. Most of the lakes in the DFW Area are man-made reservoirs and are managed by the US Army Corp of Engineers.

A still body of water smaller than a lake. Many of the ponds in the DFW Area are man-made for use as a supply of water for grazing livestock.

A large natural stream of water emptying into an ocean, lake, or other body of water and usually fed along its course by converging tributaries. The Trinity River is the most important river in the DFW Area.

Any type of municipal development designed to aid in flood control and manage storm sewage and runoff.