The Western Gulf coastal grasslands are a subtropical grassland ecoregion of the southern United States and northeastern Mexico. It is known in Texas as "Coastal Prairie". The ecoregion covers an area of 77,425 square kilometres (29,894 sq mi), extending along the shore of the Gulf of Mexico from southeastern Louisiana through Texas and into the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, where it is known as the Tamaulipan pastizal. Less than 1% of the ecoregion remains in pristine condition, almost entirely in Texas.
Similar to the tallgrass prairie, Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans), Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) are the primary tallgrass species that are typical of the coastal prairie, with several other shorter grasses and many herbaceous and woody species. Over one million Attwater's Prairie Chickens (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri) inhabited the prairie in Texas and Louisiana in the 19th century, but the extreme reduction of their habitat put them on the U.S. endangered species list in 1967.
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