Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge
Encyclopedia
Balcones Canyonlands is a National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the world's premiere system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife and plants...
located in the Texas Hill Country
Texas Hill Country
The Texas Hill Country is a vernacular term applied to a region of Central Texas featuring tall rugged hills consisting of thin layers of soil atop limestone or granite. It also includes the Llano Uplift and the second largest granite monadnock in the United States, Enchanted Rock, which is located...
to the northwest of Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. The Refuge was formed in 1992 to conserve habitat for two endangered songbirds including the Golden-cheeked Warbler
Golden-cheeked Warbler
The Golden-cheeked Warbler Dendroica chrysoparia is an endangered species of bird that breeds in Central Texas, from Palo Pinto County southwestward along the eastern and southern edge of the Edwards Plateau to Kinney County...
and the Black-capped Vireo
Black-capped Vireo
The Black-capped Vireo, Vireo atricapilla, is a small bird native to the United States and Mexico. It has been listed as an endangered species in the United States since 1987. The IUCN lists the species as vulnerable....
and to preserve Texas Hill Country habitat for numerous other wildlife species. The Refuge augments a similarly named preserve in Austin called the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve.
The Refuge is located within a deeply dissected portion of the Edwards Plateau
Edwards Plateau
The Edwards Plateau is a region of west-central Texas which is bounded by the Balcones Fault to the south and east, the Llano Uplift and the Llano Estacado to the north, and the Pecos River and Chihuahuan Desert to the west. San Angelo, Austin, San Antonio and Del Rio roughly outline the area...
that contains many steep-banked streams and canyons. The canyons facing Austin are deeply etched into the limestone of the Edwards Plateau by tributaries of the Colorado River
Colorado River (Texas)
The Colorado River is a river that runs through the U.S. state of Texas; it should not be confused with the much longer Colorado River which flows from Colorado into the Gulf of California....
.
Beneath the surface of the Edwards Plateau lies an underground labyrinth of caves, sinkholes and springs. Various spiders, beetles, and other creatures inhabit this below-ground world and are unique to this area of Texas. Even deeper below the surface lies the Edwards Aquifer
Edwards Aquifer
The Edwards Aquifer is one of the most prolific artesian aquifers in the world. Located on the eastern edge of Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas, it discharges about of water a year and directly serves about two million people...
, which stores billions of gallons of water and supplies drinking water for almost one million people. The aquifer is also the source of many springs that feed Hill Country
Texas Hill Country
The Texas Hill Country is a vernacular term applied to a region of Central Texas featuring tall rugged hills consisting of thin layers of soil atop limestone or granite. It also includes the Llano Uplift and the second largest granite monadnock in the United States, Enchanted Rock, which is located...
rivers, which eventually flow into the marshes, estuaries, and bays along the Texas coast.
The vegetation found in the Hill Country includes various oaks, elms, and Ashe juniper trees
Juniperus ashei
Juniperus ashei is a drought-tolerant evergreen shrub or small tree, native to northeastern Mexico and the south-central United States north to southern Missouri; the largest areas are in central Texas, where extensive stands occur...
(often referred to as "cedar" in Texas). The endangered Golden-cheeked Warbler
Golden-cheeked Warbler
The Golden-cheeked Warbler Dendroica chrysoparia is an endangered species of bird that breeds in Central Texas, from Palo Pinto County southwestward along the eastern and southern edge of the Edwards Plateau to Kinney County...
and Black-capped Vireo
Black-capped Vireo
The Black-capped Vireo, Vireo atricapilla, is a small bird native to the United States and Mexico. It has been listed as an endangered species in the United States since 1987. The IUCN lists the species as vulnerable....
depend on different successional stages of this vegetation. Both of these birds nest in the Edwards Plateau, the Warbler exclusively.