The Dinaric Karst is a global hotspot for subterranean diversity, with two distinct peaks of species richness in the northwest and southeast, and an area of a lower species richness in the central ...part. In this article, we present a species list and describe the ecological conditions of the Lukina jama–Trojama cave system, located in the central part of the Dinaric Karst. This cave system is the deepest and one of the most logistically challenging cave systems sampled so far in the Dinaric Karst. Repeated sampling resulted in a list of 45 species, including 25 troglobionts, 3 troglophiles, 16 stygobionts, and 1 stygophile. Most of the recorded species are endemic to the Velebit Mountain, while three species are endemic to the Lukina jama–Trojama cave system. Within the system, species richness peaks in the deepest third of the cave, most likely reflecting the harsh ecological conditions in the upper parts, including ice, cold winds, and occasional waterfalls. Milder and more stable deeper parts of the cave contain a rich subterranean species community, part of which is associated with two very distinct aquatic habitats, the cave hygropetric and the phreatic zone. The newly recognized hotspot of subterranean biodiversity in the central Dinaric Karst, which has emerged between the two known centers of biodiversity, further highlights the species richness in large cave systems, but also challenges the diversity patterns in the Dinaric Karst overall.
Relationships between species and their habitats are not always constant. Different processes may determine changes in species-habitat association: individuals may prefer different habitat typologies ...in different periods, or they may be forced to occupy a different habitat in order to follow the changing environment. The aim of our study was to assess whether cave salamanders change their habitat association pattern through the year, and to test whether such changes are determined by environmental changes or by changes in preferences. We monitored multiple caves in Central Italy through one year, and monthly measured biotic and abiotic features of microhabitat and recorded Italian cave salamanders distribution. We used mixed models and niche similarity tests to assess whether species-habitat relationships remain constant through the year. Microhabitat showed strong seasonal variation, with the highest variability in the superficial sectors. Salamanders were associated to relatively cold and humid sectors in summer, but not during winter. Such apparent shift in habitat preferences mostly occurred because the environmental gradient changed through the year, while individuals generally selected similar conditions. Nevertheless, juveniles were more tolerant to dry sectors during late winter, when food demand was highest. This suggests that tolerance for suboptimal abiotic conditions may change through time, depending on the required resources. Differences in habitat use are jointly determined by environmental variation through time, and by changes in the preferred habitat. The trade-offs between tolerance and resources requirement are major determinant of such variation.
The first known troglobiotic species belonging to the ground beetle tribe Patrobini is reported from a limestone cave called Lianhua Dong in Pengzhou, a suburb county-level city in northern Chengdu, ...Sichuan Province, China. Troglopatrobus zhouchaoi
n. gen., n. sp., is an eyeless and large-sized patrobine beetle with extremely elongated body (esp. head and elytra) and appendages. Duvalioblemus (Shublemus) liyuani
n. subgen., n. sp., a minute anophthalmic trechine species, is also discovered from the same cave. It is the first cave-dwelling species belonging to this genus already known as endogean from Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.
Hotspots of Subterranean Biodiversity Pipan, Tanja; Deharveng, Louis; Culver, David C.
Diversity (Basel),
05/2020, Volume:
12, Issue:
5
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Worldwide, caves and groundwater habitats harbor thousands of species modified and limited to subterranean habitats in karst. Data are concentrated in Europe and USA, where a number of detailed ...analyses have been performed. Much less is known with respect to global patterns due to a lack of data. This special issue will focus on and discuss the global patterns of individual hotspot caves and groundwater habitats.
Interest in cave fungal diversity is flourishing because it may represent a reservoir of new species and metabolites. However, the mycobiota remains poorly studied in the underground environment, ...especially in neotropical regions. During surveys that aimed to investigate the fungal diversity in quartzite and limestone caves in the Southern Espinhaço Mountain in Brazil, six
Chaetomiaceae
isolates were obtained from different cave substrates. Five taxonomical novelties of
Chaetomiaceae
in Brazilian caves were discovered based on phylogenetic analyses using DNA sequences from the ITS, LSU,
TUB
, and
RPB2
genes.
Chaetomium meridionalense
,
Pseudohumicola alba
, and
Pseudohumicola lutea
are new species found in Gruta da Extração and Gruta Velha Nova caves.
Parahumicola
is introduced as a new genus representing a novel phylogenetic lineage with unique morphological characteristics in the family
Chaetomiaceae
. This new monotypic genus is typified by
P. guana
, which was found in a bat guano sample in the Gruta Monte Cristo cave. Furthermore, this is the first report of
Collariella bostrychodes
in a neotropical cave. Overall, these findings emphasise that Brazilian caves constitute an untapped source of fungal resources.
Focusing on one cave-dwelling crustacean, Gammarus minus, this book shows that cave life can provide a valuable empirical model for the study of evolution, particularly adaptation.
Our study is one of the very few cases of speleomycological research in recently discovered caves. The aim of this research was to assess the population size of fungal colonies and their species ...composition in the Jarkowicka cave, discovered in 2012. The air samples were taken from one location outside the cave and from two locations inside of it. Mycological evaluation of the rocks inside the cave was performed usingswab sampling procedure. In the Jarkowicka cave we found 22 species of fungi, including 13 isolated from air at the entrance and from the walls, and 8 species from air inside the cave. Cladosporium spp. were the fungi most frequently isolated from internal atmosphere of the Jarkowicka cave, and from the external air. On the other hand, the fungi most frequently isolated from the rocks were Mucor spp. We found several species not yet described as cave inhabitants: Hypocrea pachybasioides, Cladosporium uredinicola, and Embellisia abundans. Our study may provide a basis for comparison to other similar studies conducted in frequently visited caves by tourists.
From a biological perspective, the subterranean realm is one of the less studied, but at the same time, one of the most promising, theatres for new findings and research. Compared to those on the ...surface, the ecological conditions occurring in subterranean habitats are relatively simple, and this may be an optimal scenario for understanding the mechanisms allowing the colonization, adaptation, and evolution of species, as well as their interactions within local communities. Diversity in subterranean habitats is often overlooked, and few studies embrace whole communities or try to assess functional relationships between species. This Special Issue reprint comprises papers covering a wide range of aspects related to the distribution, composition, and roles of subterranean communities occurring in different typologies of subterranean habitats.
A new genus and new species of Trechina (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Trechinae:
Trechini), Ryukyuaphaenops pulcherrimus gen. & sp. nov. is described from the Ryukyu
Archipelago, Japan. This is the first ...troglomorphic Carabidae in the Ryukyus and probably the most cave-adapted beetle in Japan. Interestingly, our observations suggest that this new trechine beetle is not similar to any genera of Trechina distributed in Kyushu and Taiwan, which are geographically close to the Ryukyu Archipelago, but is more similar to several aphaenopsian genera distributed in the inland of China. The genetic diversity of the new species is discussed based on mitochondrial DNA (COI-5’, COI-3’, 16S).
The species Paraphaenops breuilianus (Jeannel, 1916) is an Iberian iconic cave beetle with “aphaenopsian” facies, monospecific until now. An extensive field work over the last years allowed the ...revision of this peculiar genus using the combinations of morphological, molecular and ecological approaches and led to the description of new taxa Paraphaenops fadriquei Ortuño and Faille sp. nov., Paraphaenops breuilianus espanoli Ortuño and Faille ssp. nov. and the full larval diagnosis of the third larval instar of the type species. The sequencing of two mitochondrial (cox1, rrnl+tRNA-Leu+nad1) and one nuclear (LSU) gene fragments evidenced a strong divergence for all markers considered between P. breuilianus and the new species P. fadriquei sp. nov. The strong genetic differences between the two taxa contrast singularly with the extreme morphological homogeneity of the genus. The ecological data recorded for Paraphaenops Jeannel, 1916 species show that they are stenotherms and stenohygrobionts, perfectly adapted to the subterranean environment, living at temperatures between 4.4 and 10°C with high relative humidity. The new localities and taxa enlarge the former distribution area from 72 to 5091 square kilometres sprinkled between twelve caves: six in the Mola de Catí (P. breuilianus breuilianus); three in the aforementioned karst region towards the south, crossing the geographical barrier “Barranc de Regatxol” (P. breuilianus espanoli ssp. nov.); and three, 60km towards the west, in a different karst region: the “Sierra de la Dehesas” (P. fadriquei sp. nov.) This geographical range overlaps a geostructural area quoted as “junction area” between the Iberian System and the Catalan coastal Mountain range, an area up to 1000 meters above sea level.
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