Logan Cave National Wildlife Refuge in Benton County,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

became the 455th National Wildlife Refuge on March 14, 1989, under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. This

Ozark Mountain The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant porti ...

refuge, which includes a

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

-solution cave, is located west of Fayetteville, Arkansas and approximately north of U.S. Route 412. The Logan Cave area has a very diverse habitat which includes representatives of several Ozark Mountain types:

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

- hickory forest,

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

, shrubland,

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

marshland A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

bottomland Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of p ...

hardwood, upland

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

, and a small

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

. The ecology of the cave has been described as the highest quality cave habitat in the entire Ozark region. A spring-fed stream, with an average water flow of 5 million gallons/day, extends the entire length of the cave. This stream, fed by small springs that emanate from the cave, once supplied water to the Logan community, a fish

hatchery A hatchery is a facility where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions, especially those of fish, poultry or even turtles. It may be used for ex-situ conservation purposes, i.e. to breed rare or endangered species under controlled cond ...

and 49 fish ponds. Today, the spring forms a small stream which flows into the

Osage Creek Osage Creek is a stream in Benton and Washington counties in northwest Arkansas. It is a tributary of the Illinois River. The stream headwaters arise just southeast of Rogers (at ) and it flows generally west past the south side of Rogers. It re ...

, a major tributary of the Illinois River. Geological features of the cave distinctly exhibit how Ozark limestone-solution caves are formed. Many

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

marine species are present in the cave, evidence that the region was once covered by an ocean. Extensive deposits of fine alluvial clays of homogeneous texture border the stream in some areas. The primary objectives of Logan Cave NWR are to properly administer, preserve, and develop the tract for protection of a unique cave ecosystem that provides essential habitat for the endangered gray bat, endangered Cambarus aculabrum, Benton cave crayfish, the threatened Ozark cavefish, and other significant cave dwelling wildlife species. Gray bats use the cave in the spring and summer as a maternity site and the Ozark cave crayfish is known only to exist in Logan Cave and one other site.

References

Profile of Logan Cave National Wildlife RefugeRefuge website
{{authority control Protected areas of Benton County, Arkansas National Wildlife Refuges in Arkansas Protected areas established in 1989 Caves of Arkansas Landforms of Benton County, Arkansas Wetlands of Arkansas 1989 establishments in Arkansas