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Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Differences In Aquatic Microcrustacean Assemblages Between Temporary And Perennial Springs Of An Alpine Karstic Aquifer, Nataša Mori, Anton Brancelj Sep 2013

Differences In Aquatic Microcrustacean Assemblages Between Temporary And Perennial Springs Of An Alpine Karstic Aquifer, Nataša Mori, Anton Brancelj

International Journal of Speleology

Microcrustacean (Copepoda, Ostracoda) assemblages were investigated at the interface of the vadose and phreatic zones in the alpine karstic aquifer from the Julian Alps in Slovenia (SE Europe). Two temporary and one perennial karstic outlets were sampled by filtering the water several times over 2 years. Concurrently, benthos from the mouth of a perennial spring and from an adjacent spring brook were collected. Altogether 24 microcrustacean species were recorded. The spatial and temporal variation in drift densities and species composition was high indicating complex groundwater hydrological pathways being dependent on precipitation regime. Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) clearly separated drift samples …


Epilithic And Aerophilic Diatoms In The Artificial Environment Of Kungsträdgården Metro Station, Stockholm, Sweden, Lena Norbäck Ivarsson, Magnus Ivarsson, Johannes Lundberg, Therese Sallstedt, Catarina Rydin Sep 2013

Epilithic And Aerophilic Diatoms In The Artificial Environment Of Kungsträdgården Metro Station, Stockholm, Sweden, Lena Norbäck Ivarsson, Magnus Ivarsson, Johannes Lundberg, Therese Sallstedt, Catarina Rydin

International Journal of Speleology

The Kungsträdgården metro station is an artificial and urban subsurface environment illuminated with artificial light. Its ecosystem is almost completely unknown and as a first step to better understand the biology and rock wall habitats the diatom flora was investigated. A total of 12 species were found growing on the rock walls of Kungsträdgården metro station. The results show the diatom flora in Kungsträdgården to be dominated by e.g. Diadesmis contenta, Diadesmis perpusilla, Pinnularia appendiculata, Nitzschia amphibia, Nitzschia sinuata and Diploneis ovalis. One species, Caloneis cf. aerophila, has never been reported from Sweden before. …


Spatial And Temporal Changes In Invertebrate Assemblage Structure From The Entrance To Deep-Cave Zone Of A Temperate Marble Cave, Benjamin W. Tobin, Benjamin T. Hutchins, Benjamin F. Schwartz Aug 2013

Spatial And Temporal Changes In Invertebrate Assemblage Structure From The Entrance To Deep-Cave Zone Of A Temperate Marble Cave, Benjamin W. Tobin, Benjamin T. Hutchins, Benjamin F. Schwartz

International Journal of Speleology

Seasonality in surface weather results in seasonal temperature and humidity changes in caves. Ecological and physiological differences among trogloxenes, troglophiles, and troglobionts result in species-dependent responses to this variability. To investigate these responses, we conducted five biological inventories in a marble cave in the Sierra Nevada Range, California, USA between May and December, 2010. The cave was divided into six quadrats and temperature was continuously logged in each (humidity was logged at the entrance and in the deep cave). With increasing distance from the entrance, temperature changes were increasingly attenuated and lagged relative to surface temperature. Linear regressions were created …


Comparative Microbial Community Composition From Secondary Carbonate (Moonmilk) Deposits: Implications For The Cansiliella Servadeii Cave Hygropetric Food Web, Annette Summers Engel, Maurizio G. Paoletti, Mattia Beggio, Luca Dorigo, Alberto Pamio, Tiziano Gomiero, Claudio Furlan, Mauro Brilli, Angelo Leandro Dreon, Roberto Bertoni, Andrea Squartini Jul 2013

Comparative Microbial Community Composition From Secondary Carbonate (Moonmilk) Deposits: Implications For The Cansiliella Servadeii Cave Hygropetric Food Web, Annette Summers Engel, Maurizio G. Paoletti, Mattia Beggio, Luca Dorigo, Alberto Pamio, Tiziano Gomiero, Claudio Furlan, Mauro Brilli, Angelo Leandro Dreon, Roberto Bertoni, Andrea Squartini

International Journal of Speleology

The microbial diversity of moonmilk, a hydrated calcium carbonate speleothem, was evaluated from two Italian caves to provide context for the food web of highly-specialized troglobitic beetles, Cansiliella spp. (Leptodirinae), with distinctive carbon and nitrogen isotope values indicative of a novel food source. The moonmilk and associated percolating waters had low to no extractable chlorophyll, with an average organic C:N ratio of 9, indicating limited allochthonous input and a significant contribution from microbial biomass. The biomass from moonmilk was estimated to be ~104 micro- and meiofaunal individuals per m2 and ~107 microbial cells/ml. Betaproteobacteria dominated the …


Phototactic Behaviour Of Subterranean Copionodontinae Pinna, 1992 Catfishes (Siluriformes, Trichomycteridae) From Chapada Diamantina, Central Bahia, Northeastern Brazil, Bianca Rantin, Maria Elina Bichuette Jan 2013

Phototactic Behaviour Of Subterranean Copionodontinae Pinna, 1992 Catfishes (Siluriformes, Trichomycteridae) From Chapada Diamantina, Central Bahia, Northeastern Brazil, Bianca Rantin, Maria Elina Bichuette

International Journal of Speleology

The phototactic behaviour of three Copionodontinae (Trichomycteridae) catfish species (two troglobites and one epigean) from Chapada Diamantina was studied in order to detect modifications related to isolation in the subterranean environment. Differences in response under different luminosities were detected and, unlike other cavefish, Copionodontinae cave species have shown to be more photophobic than the epigean syntopic to them. The troglobitic Glaphyropoma spinosum is the most photophobic, presenting this behaviour under all light intensities, and more homogeneous regarding morphological characters. It suggests that this population is probably isolated for a longer time in the subterranean environment compared to Copionodon sp. n., …


Colonization Of Subterranean Habitats By Spiders In Central Europe, Vlastimil Růžička, Petr Šmilauer, Roman Mlejnek Jan 2013

Colonization Of Subterranean Habitats By Spiders In Central Europe, Vlastimil Růžička, Petr Šmilauer, Roman Mlejnek

International Journal of Speleology

Using data from the Czech Republic, we studied the distribution of spiders in soils, crevice systems, scree and caves, i.e. subterranean habitats at depths spanning from 10 cm to 100 m. In total, we found 161 species. The number of species declines with increasing habitat depth, with a major drop in species richness at the depth of 10 meters. Thirteen species exhibit morphological adaptations to life in subterranean habitats. At depths greater than 10 meters, spider assemblages are almost exclusively composed of troglomorphic species. We propose a hypothesis of evolution of troglomorphisms during Quaternary climatic cycles.


Exploring The Sulfide Tolerance Of Ectosymbiotic Niphargus Amphipods From The Frasassi Caves, Central Italy, Jan Bauermeister, Karoline Assig, Sharmishtha Dattagupta Jan 2013

Exploring The Sulfide Tolerance Of Ectosymbiotic Niphargus Amphipods From The Frasassi Caves, Central Italy, Jan Bauermeister, Karoline Assig, Sharmishtha Dattagupta

International Journal of Speleology

Two species of the crustacean amphipod genus Niphargus inhabit the sulfidic groundwaters of the Frasassi caves in central Italy, and both harbor filamentous, sulfide-oxidizing Thiothrix ectosymbionts. As sulfide is toxic to most aerobic organisms, it appeared possible that the ectosymbionts could help their Niphargus hosts with detoxification processes. In this study, mortality due to sulfide was compared between Niphargus individuals with ectosymbionts and individuals whose ectosymbionts had been killed by antibiotic treatment. Both Frasassi-dwelling Niphargus species revealed exceptionally high tolerances to sulfide compared to other amphipod species studied so far. Niphargus individuals without viable ectosymbionts tolerated sulfide levels exceeding those …


Fungi Isolated From Niedźwiedzia Cave In Kletno (Lower Silesia, Poland), Rafał Ogórek, Agnieszka Lejman, Krzysztof Matkowski Jan 2013

Fungi Isolated From Niedźwiedzia Cave In Kletno (Lower Silesia, Poland), Rafał Ogórek, Agnieszka Lejman, Krzysztof Matkowski

International Journal of Speleology

Niedźwiedzia Cave is the most beautiful cave in Poland, discovered in a block of Cambrian marbles. It is the most important part of the reserve established in 1977. The cave is located within the Kłodzko Valley, in Śnieżnik Mt. Massif, in Kleśnica Stream Valley and was discovered in 1966 while working in a quarry. The study aimed at first mycological evaluation of the air and the rocks in Niedźwiedzia Cave. Nine species of filamentous fungi and a yeast species were isolated from the air sampled in the cave, whereas from the rocks - nine species of filamentous fungi and two …