Key Cave National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) (Site# 9, Northwest Loop) has large open fields managed for warm-season native grasses interspersed with small patches of deciduous woodland and the seasonal sinkhole wetland. The refuge is gradually being converted from crops to native warm-season grasslands. The benefit of this restoration is immediately apparent from the dozens of singing Grasshopper Sparrows and Dickcissels that can be heard calling across the refuge.

The refuge's primary purpose is to protect Key Cave (not open to the public), which is home to the endangered Alabama Cavefish. This fish can only be found in Key Cave, where it is closely linked to the unique ecology of seasonally flooded waters beneath an active Gray Bat roost. The Gray Bat droppings make a nutrient rich soup that supports the Alabama Cavefish, as well as several endangered cave crayfish and other invertebrates.

Contact Key Cave National Wildlife Refuge

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Listed in:

• Ecotourism