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University of South Florida

International Journal of Speleology

Journal

2017

Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

The Blurred Line Between Photic And Aphotic Environments: A Large Mexican Cave With Almost No Dark Zone, Luis M. Mejía-Ortíz, Tanja Pipan, David C. Culver, Peter Sprouse Dec 2017

The Blurred Line Between Photic And Aphotic Environments: A Large Mexican Cave With Almost No Dark Zone, Luis M. Mejía-Ortíz, Tanja Pipan, David C. Culver, Peter Sprouse

International Journal of Speleology

Sistema Muévelo Rico is a 1.2 km long cave in Quintana Roo, less than 2 km from the Caribbean Sea. We measured illuminance to a level of 0.1 lux, organic matter (weight loss on ignition), temperature, and relative humidity. The last two were measured at hourly intervals for nearly one year. Approximately one-third of the cave has illuminance values greater than 0.01 lux, and most of the rest of the cave has light as well. Temperature and relative humidity were relatively constant, but they showed a daily cycle at all stations, albeit with different strengths. Organic matter averaged 8%, intermediate …


Assessing Preservation Priorities Of Caves And Karst Areas Using The Frequency Of Endemic Cave-Dwelling Species, Eugen Nitzu, Marius Vlaicu, Andrei Giurginca, Ioana N. Meleg, Ionut Popa, Augustin Nae, Ştefan Baba Dec 2017

Assessing Preservation Priorities Of Caves And Karst Areas Using The Frequency Of Endemic Cave-Dwelling Species, Eugen Nitzu, Marius Vlaicu, Andrei Giurginca, Ioana N. Meleg, Ionut Popa, Augustin Nae, Ştefan Baba

International Journal of Speleology

Endemic and rare species as bioindicators of habitat vulnerability were used to develop protection and management plans for biotope prioritization (mainly islands habitats, lava tubes or groundwaters). Due to their narrow distribution, the endemic species (species confined to a restricted geographic area) are more susceptible to ecological disequilibrium and habitat loss than the widespread ones. Consequently, endemics become endangered in the context of ecological disturbance caused by anthropogenic pressure, making them suitable candidates to assess environmental preservation needs. Taking into consideration that most of the stygobitic and troglobitic species are endemic and confined to specific karst areas, based on their …


Modelling The Future Spread Of Native And Alien Congeneric Species In Subterranean Habitats — The Case Of Meta Cave-Dwelling Spiders In Great Britain, Stefano Mammola Aug 2017

Modelling The Future Spread Of Native And Alien Congeneric Species In Subterranean Habitats — The Case Of Meta Cave-Dwelling Spiders In Great Britain, Stefano Mammola

International Journal of Speleology

The threshold zones between the epigean and hypogean environments are generally characterized by less harsh ecological conditions than deep subterranean habitats, and usually support a greater abundance of organisms. Transitional habitats such as these should be more easily colonised by alien species, especially by those possessing exaptations suitable for subterranean life. In spite of this, few studies have been conducted to unravel the ecological dynamics between native and alien species in the habitats situated at the epigean/hypogean interface. A unique test case is offered by cave-dwelling Meta orb-weaver spiders in Great Britain (Araneae: Tetragnathidae). One species, M. menardi, is …


Screening Of Antifungal Susceptibility In Cave-Dwelling Aspergilli And Report Of An Amphotericin B-Resistant Aspergillus Flavus, Erika L.S. Taylor, Gabriella F. Ferreira, Gustavo J.C. Freitas, Rodrigo L. Ferreira, Daniel De Assis Santos, Maria A. De Resende-Stoianoff Aug 2017

Screening Of Antifungal Susceptibility In Cave-Dwelling Aspergilli And Report Of An Amphotericin B-Resistant Aspergillus Flavus, Erika L.S. Taylor, Gabriella F. Ferreira, Gustavo J.C. Freitas, Rodrigo L. Ferreira, Daniel De Assis Santos, Maria A. De Resende-Stoianoff

International Journal of Speleology

Caves are stable environments that favour the development of several microorganisms. The aspergilli represent a large number of species isolated from caves including strains capable of causing serious invasive opportunistic infections in humans. Considering that caves may harbour resistant strains to many antibiotics, investigation on the response of opportunistic aspergilli, isolated from pristine and tourist caves to antifungal agents and the mechanisms involved in resistance might be clinically relevant. A total of 32 strains of the species Aspergillus candidus, A. flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger, A. tamarii, and A. terreus were isolated from caves in …


Mitigating The Conflict Between Pitfall-Trap Sampling And Conservation Of Terrestrial Subterranean Communities In Caves, Peter Kozel, Tanja Pipan, Nina Šajna, Slavko Polak, Tone Novak May 2017

Mitigating The Conflict Between Pitfall-Trap Sampling And Conservation Of Terrestrial Subterranean Communities In Caves, Peter Kozel, Tanja Pipan, Nina Šajna, Slavko Polak, Tone Novak

International Journal of Speleology

Subterranean habitats are known for their rich endemic fauna and high vulnerability to disturbance. Many methods and techniques are used to sample the biodiversity of terrestrial invertebrate fauna in caves, among which pitfall trapping remains one of the most frequently used and effective ones. However, this method has turned out to be harmful to subterranean communities if applied inappropriately. Traditionally, pitfall traps have been placed in caves solely on the ground. Here we present an optimized technique of pitfall trapping to achieve a balance between sampling completeness and minimal disturbance of the fauna in the cave. Monthly we placed traps …


Subterranean Systems Provide A Suitable Overwintering Habitat For Salamandra Salamandra, Monika Balogová, Dušan Jelić, Michaela Kyselová, Marcel Uhrin Mar 2017

Subterranean Systems Provide A Suitable Overwintering Habitat For Salamandra Salamandra, Monika Balogová, Dušan Jelić, Michaela Kyselová, Marcel Uhrin

International Journal of Speleology

The fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) has been repeatedly noted to occur in natural and artificial subterranean systems. Despite the obvious connection of this species with underground shelters, their level of dependence and importance to the species is still not fully understood. In this study, we carried out long-term monitoring based on the capture-mark-recapture method in two wintering populations aggregated in extensive underground habitats. Using the POPAN model we found the population size in a natural shelter to be more than twice that of an artificial underground shelter. Survival and recapture probabilities calculated using the Cormack-Jolly-Seber model were very …


Bioaccumulation Of Metallic Trace Elements And Antioxidant Enzyme Activities In Apfelbeckia Insculpta (L. Koch, 1867) (Diplopoda: Callipodida) From The Cave Hadži-Prodanova Pećina (Serbia), Jelena Vranković, Slavica Borković-Mitić, Bojan Ilić, Milanka Radulović, Slaviša Milošević, Slobodan Makarov, Bojan Mitić Feb 2017

Bioaccumulation Of Metallic Trace Elements And Antioxidant Enzyme Activities In Apfelbeckia Insculpta (L. Koch, 1867) (Diplopoda: Callipodida) From The Cave Hadži-Prodanova Pećina (Serbia), Jelena Vranković, Slavica Borković-Mitić, Bojan Ilić, Milanka Radulović, Slaviša Milošević, Slobodan Makarov, Bojan Mitić

International Journal of Speleology

The concentration of 10 metallic trace elements or MTE (Cu, Fe, Zn, Mn, As, Hg, Pb, Cd, Ni, and Cr) was measured in specimens of the troglophilic millipede Apfelbeckia insculpta (L. Koch, 1867) and sediment of the cave Hadži-Prodanova Pećina in western Serbia. Some MTE, like Fe and Mn, displayed much higher concentrations compared to other elements, both in the sediment and in the body of A. insculpta. On the other hand, estimation of the bioaccumulation factor (BAF) in both males and females of A. insculpta showed values greater than 1 for xenobiotic elements compared to those that are essential. …


Bat Urea-Derived Minerals In Arid Environment. First Identification Of Allantoin, C4H6N4O3, In Kahf Kharrat Najem Cave, United Arab Emirates, Philippe Audra, Pavel Bosák, Fernando Gázquez, Didier Cailhol, Roman Skála, Lenka Lisá, Šárka Jonášová, Amos Frumkin, Martin Knez, Tadej Slabe, Nadja Zupan Hajna, Asma Al-Farraj Feb 2017

Bat Urea-Derived Minerals In Arid Environment. First Identification Of Allantoin, C4H6N4O3, In Kahf Kharrat Najem Cave, United Arab Emirates, Philippe Audra, Pavel Bosák, Fernando Gázquez, Didier Cailhol, Roman Skála, Lenka Lisá, Šárka Jonášová, Amos Frumkin, Martin Knez, Tadej Slabe, Nadja Zupan Hajna, Asma Al-Farraj

International Journal of Speleology

Kahf Kharrat Najem Cave is a small cave in United Arab Emirates (UAE) that hosts a bat colony which is the source of guano deposits and peculiar centimeter-long yellowish stalactites. The mineralogy and geochemistry of these deposits were analyzed using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopic microanalysis (EDX), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and stable isotope composition (δ13C and δ15N). Urea CO(NH2)2 was found to be the main compound of these stalactites, while allantoin C4H6N4O3 was found to be an accessory urea byproduct. This paper …


Diversity And Biocide Susceptibility Of Fungal Assemblages Dwelling In The Art Gallery Of Magura Cave, Bulgaria, Milena M. Mitova, Mihail Iliev, Alena Nováková, Anna A. Gorbushina, Veneta I. Groudeva, Pedro M. Martin-Sanchez Feb 2017

Diversity And Biocide Susceptibility Of Fungal Assemblages Dwelling In The Art Gallery Of Magura Cave, Bulgaria, Milena M. Mitova, Mihail Iliev, Alena Nováková, Anna A. Gorbushina, Veneta I. Groudeva, Pedro M. Martin-Sanchez

International Journal of Speleology

Magura Cave, north-western Bulgaria, possesses valuable rock-art paintings made with bat guano and dated from the period between the Eneolithic and Bronze Ages. Since 2008, the Art Gallery is closed to the general public in order to protect the paintings from vandalism, microclimatic changes caused by visitors and artificial illumination, and the consequent growth of fungi and phototrophs. Nevertheless, some tourist visits are allowed under the supervision of cave managers. This study provides the first scientific report on cultivable fungal assemblages dwelling different substrata in the Art Gallery. A total of 78 strains, belonging to 37 OTUs (Ascomycota 81%, Zygomycota …