Matches in DBpedia 2015-10 for { <http://dbpedia.org/resource/Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge> ?p ?o }
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge abstract "The Merced National Wildlife Refuge encompasses 10,262 acres (41.53 km2) of wetlands, native grasslands, vernal pools, and riparian areas in California. It was established in 1951 under the Lea Act to attract wintering waterfowl from adjacent farmland where their foraging was causing crop damage. In the last few decades, changes in agricultural practices and refuge management have reduced these wildlife/crop issues.The refuge plays host to the largest wintering populations of lesser sandhill cranes and Ross's geese within the Pacific Flyway. Each autumn over 20,000 cranes and 60,000 arctic nesting geese terminate their annual migrations from Alaska and Canada to make the refuge home for six months. Here they mingle with thousands of other visiting waterfowl, waterbirds and shorebirds making the refuge a true winter phenomenon.The refuge also provides important breeding habitat for Swainson's hawks, tri-colored blackbirds, marsh wrens, mallards, gadwall, cinnamon teal, and burrowing owls. Tri-colored blackbirds, a colonial-nesting songbird, breed in colonies of over 25,000 pairs. Coyotes, ground squirrels, desert cottontail rabbits, beaver, and long-tailed weasels can also be seen year-round.Vernal pools are another type of wetland found on the Merced National Wildlife Refuge. These special pools form when natural shallow depressions underlaid with clay soils fill with winter rainwater. The pools come to life as they fill with water: fairy and tadpole shrimp emerge from cysts embedded in the soils the previous year. The endangered tiger salamander, along with other amphibians, lays eggs and rear tadpoles. The vast number of aquatic invertebrates found in these pools provides a food source for wintering and migrating birds as they prepare for the long flight north to their breeding grounds.As spring arrives and the water in the vernal pools evaporates, wildflowers – such as goldfields, purple owl's clover, and butter-and-eggs – germinate in colorful patterns of thick rings or halos around the pool basins. Once the vernal pools have dried out, Downingia and Colusa grass, a rare California species, appear in the parched basins. This annual coloring led John Muir to describe the valley floor as the "floweriest part of the world" he had seen.In addition to managing natural habitats, the Merced National Wildlife Refuge contains approximately 300 acres (1.2 km2) of cultivated corn and winter wheat crops and over 500 acres (2.0 km2) of irrigated pasture for wildlife. Not only do these managed agricultural areas provide important sources of nutrition (carbohydrates) to the tens of thousands of arctic-nesting geese and sandhill cranes that make Merced County their winter home, they also help ensure that the birds will have adequate nutrient stores to make the long migration to their northern breeding grounds. Local farmers, under agreements with the refuge, oversee the ground preparation, seeding, and irrigation of these croplands. The refuge incorporates a livestock grazing program that works in partnership with local ranchers and farmers. Grazing cattle and sheep is a management tool used by the refuge to help control invasive weeds, provide and maintain short stature grasslands for goose grazing, and encourage native grasslands to thrive.".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge areaTotal "4.15288406066688E7".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge iucnCategory "IV".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge location Merced_County,_California.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge location United_States.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge nearestCity Merced,_California.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge thumbnail Grus_canadensis_-Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge,_California,_USA_-flock-8.jpg?width=300.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageExternalLink merced_info.htm.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageID "24882395".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageLength "5103".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageOutDegree "52".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageRevisionID "673220009".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Alaska.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Anostraca.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Beaver.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Burrowing_owl.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Canada.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Carbohydrate.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Castilleja_exserta.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Category:Landforms_of_Merced_County,_California.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Category:National_Wildlife_Refuges_in_California.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Category:Parks_in_the_San_Joaquin_Valley.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Category:Protected_areas_established_in_1951.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Category:Protected_areas_of_Merced_County,_California.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Category:Wetlands_of_California.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Cattle.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Cinnamon_teal.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Colusa_grass.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Coyote.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Cyst.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Desert_cottontail.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Downingia.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Endangered_species.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Fairy_shrimp.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Gadwall.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Grassland.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Grazing.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Ground_squirrel.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink History_of_the_National_Wildlife_Refuge_System.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink John_Muir.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Lasthenia.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Long-tailed_weasel.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Maize.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Mallard.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Marsh_wren.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Merced,_California.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Merced_County,_California.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Neostapfia.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Notostraca.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Pacific_Flyway.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Purple_owls_clover.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Riparian.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Riparian_zone.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Rosss_goose.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Sandhill_crane.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Sheep.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Songbird.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Swainsons_hawk.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Tadpole_shrimp.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Tiger_salamander.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Tri-colored_blackbird.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Tricolored_blackbird.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Triphysaria_eriantha.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink United_States.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink United_States_Fish_and_Wildlife_Service.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Waterfowl.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Weed.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Wetland.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLink Wheat.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLinkText "Merced NWR".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLinkText "Merced National Wildlife Refuge".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageWikiLinkText "Merced".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge established "1951".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge governingBody United_States_Fish_and_Wildlife_Service.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge hasPhotoCollection Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge iucnCategory "IV".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge latD "37.17911".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge location Merced_County,_California.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge location United_States.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge longD "-120.63658".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge map "USA relief".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge mapCaption "Map of the United States".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge mapWidth "300".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge name "Merced National Wildlife Refuge".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge nearestCity Merced,_California.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge photo "Grus canadensis -Merced National Wildlife Refuge, California, USA -flock-8.jpg".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge photoCaption "A flock of sandhill cranes landing".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge region "US-CA".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge source "GNIS".
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge url merced_info.htm.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageUsesTemplate Template:Commons_category.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageUsesTemplate Template:Convert.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageUsesTemplate Template:Include-USGov.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageUsesTemplate Template:Infobox_protected_area.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge wikiPageUsesTemplate Template:Protected_Areas_of_California.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge subject Category:Landforms_of_Merced_County,_California.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge subject Category:National_Wildlife_Refuges_in_California.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge subject Category:Parks_in_the_San_Joaquin_Valley.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge subject Category:Protected_areas_established_in_1951.
- Merced_National_Wildlife_Refuge subject Category:Protected_areas_of_Merced_County,_California.