The public is invited to attend the Native Plant Project’s February meeting. The guest speaker for the February 25 meeting in Weslaco will be Catarina Miranda who is currently working toward a master's degree in biology at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley where she is a graduate research assistant.

Her presentation is entitled, "How does a forest sustain itself? The role of microhabitat and succession on recruitment in Tamaulipan thornscrub." Her research area focuses on thornscrub restoration here in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Miranda feels that Tamaulipan thornscrub, the major biome of South Texas, faces many threats ranging from habitat loss to invasive species pressure to increased climate extremes.

She states, "Revegetation is of major interest in this ecosystem to support the RGV's diversity of wildlife and plants, but reforested landscapes need check-ups over time to determine their long-term ecological impacts."

Miranda will share some of her latest findings with an overall goal of spreading awareness and increasing appreciation of the endangered thornscrub ecosystem.

The program will be Tuesday, February 25 at 7 p.m. at the Valley Nature Center, 301 South Border St. in Weslaco, behind Gibson Park. The public is invited. There is no charge to attend.

For more about the Native Plant Project, visit http://www.nativeplantproject.org or visit them on Facebook.