The purpose of this project is to provide a census of species within the seven bioswales on the edges of parking lots shared between the Botanical Research Institute of Texas and the Fort Worth Botanical Garden. These swales perform an important ecosystem service, representing a voluntary conservation practice by the two organizations -- within an urban environment!

In general, swales help to stem the flow of water across hard surfaces, increase permeability of water and clean water running off of the shared parking lots before it is conveyed to the locally important Trinity River.

All swales were initially planted with the same species mix, but due to site differences, their composition now varies slightly. As we work toward tweaking their composition for more highly valued aesthetics, these observations will serve as a record of that transition. less ↑