The karstic cave Križna jama in the South Western part of Slovenia is one of the largest, well known and most beautiful Slovene water caves. The cave consists of more than 8 km of corridors with ...impressive halls, colossal dripstone formations, a subterranean river and numerous lakes. Considering the subterranean fauna, Križna jama has been identified amongst the richest caves in the world. So far, 60 troglobionts, the obligate subterranean species among them 32 aquatic and 28 terrestrial taxa have been recorded and documented. Križna jama has scientific importance, as well as ten subterranean taxa, which have been described based on specimens from this cave. Despite Križna jama is relatively well-studied, new recent unexpected findings are promising. Thus, further discoveries of specialized subterranean species in the cave are expected.
The Postojna-Planina Cave System (PPCS) in central Slovenia is a globally exceptional site of subterranean biodiversity, comprised of many interconnected caves with cumulative passage length ...exceeding 34 km. Two rivers sink into the caves of the PPCS, called the Pivka and Rak, and join underground into Unica River, which emerges to the surface. The studies of fauna of PPCS began in the 19th century with the first scientific descriptions of specialized cave animals in the world, making it “the cradle of speleobiology”. Currently, the species list of PPCS contains 116 troglobiotic animal species belonging to eight phyla, confirming its status as the richest in the world. Of these, 47 species have been scientifically described from the PPCS, and more than 10 await formal taxonomic descriptions. We expect that further sampling, detailed analyses of less studied taxa, and the use of molecular methods may reveal more species. To keep the cave animals’ checklist in PPCS up-to-date, we have supplemented the printed checklist with an online interface. As the revised checklist is a necessary first step for further activities, we discuss the importance of PPCS in terms of future research and conservation.
Adaptation to life in caves is often accompanied by dramatically convergent changes across distantly related taxa, epitomized by the loss or reduction of eyes and pigmentation. Nevertheless, the ...genomic underpinnings underlying cave-related phenotypes are largely unexplored from a macroevolutionary perspective. Here we investigate genome-wide gene evolutionary dynamics in three distantly related beetle tribes with at least six instances of independent colonization of subterranean habitats, inhabiting both aquatic and terrestrial underground systems. Our results indicate that remarkable gene repertoire changes mainly driven by gene family expansions occurred prior to underground colonization in the three tribes, suggesting that genomic exaptation may have facilitated a strict subterranean lifestyle parallelly across beetle lineages. The three tribes experienced both parallel and convergent changes in the evolutionary dynamics of their gene repertoires. These findings pave the way towards a deeper understanding of the evolution of the genomic toolkit in hypogean fauna.
V prispevku je podan pregled trenutnega poznavanja favne kopenskih habitatov Pivških jezer. Doslej je bilo na območju ugotovljenih 20 vrst sesalcev in 127 vrst ptic. Od ptic jih 75 vrst tu tudi ...gnezdi. Izpostavljene so vrst evropske ohranitvene pozornosti kot so kosec, hribski škrjanec, podhujka in pisana penica. Pisana penica, poljski škrjanec, rjavi srakoper in velik strnad imajo na Pivških jezerih ene največjih gnezditvenih gostot v državi. Na območju Pivških jezer je bilo doslej ugotovljenih 8 vrst plazilcev in 9 vrst dvoživk. Večina vrst je uvrščena na rdeči seznam ogroženih živali. Metulji dnevniki so relativno dobro raziskani. Za območje je znanih 106 vrst kar znaša 57% vseh v Sloveniji živečih vrst metuljev. Tudi med metulji je veliko ogroženih in ranljivih vrst. Doslej je znanih prek 210 vrst hroščev. Ocenjeno je, da tu živi med 4000 do 6000 vrst hroščev. Veliko ogroženih vrst je vezanih na močvirne travnike jezer, suha kraška travišča ter kamnite griže. Za gozdove in grmišča je značilnih manj ogroženih vrst živali. Naravovarstveno so pomembni ostanki starih hrastovih gozdov. Na območju Pivških jezer je zaradi opuščanja človekove rabe opaziti hitro zaraščanje travišč, kar vodi v zmanjševanje biotske pestrosti. Poleg pravnega zavarovanja Pivških jezer je zato predlagano aktivno upravljanje, ohranjanje in usmerjanje ter spodbujanje dosedanje ekstenzivne kmetijske rabe. The paper gives an overview of the current knowledge of the fauna of the land habitats around the Pivka lakes. So far 20 mammal species and 127 bird species have been identified. Of the bird species, 75 also nest here. Special attention is paid to European conservation species such as the corn crake, woodlark, nightjar and barred warbler. The nesting density of the barred warbler, skylark, red-backed shrike and corn bunting at the Pivka lakes is among the highest in the country. In the area of the Pivka lakes 8 reptile species and 9 amphibian species have been identified. The majority of these species are on the Red List of Threatened Animals. The butterflies have been relatively well researched. 106 species have been identified in the area, which amounts to 57% of all species of butterflies living in Slovenia. Many of them are threatened and vulnerable species. To the present, 210 species of beetles have been identified, live here. Many of the threatened species are connected with the marshy grasslands of the lakes, dry karst grasslands and barren rocky outcrops. There are fewer threatened animal species in the forests and brush. The remains of old oak forests are scientifically important. Due to the abandonment of land use by humans in the area of the Pivka lakes we can observe the rapid overgrowth of pasturelands, which leads to decreased biodiversity. In addition to legal protection of the Pivka lakes it is therefore also recommend active management and conservation as well as preserving and encouragement of the formerly extensive farming practices.
Centipedes of temperate regions can be found in various habitats, including forest litter, soil or caves. Slovenia, situated in the Northwestern Balkans, has rich centipede fauna, with one of the ...earliest scientific descriptions of a cave centipede, Lithobius stygius Latzel, 1880, from Postojnska jama. Many lithobiomorph species have been reported from Slovenian caves, but the data on their occurrence are scattered in the literature or public collections, and several specimens have even remained unexamined. Here we present the overview of lithobiomorph centipedes found in Slovenian caves. Altogether, 21 lithobiomorph species were found in 160 localities. The majority of the records, 319 out of 410, are published for the first time. Only three species are considered exclusively subterranean species, L. stygius, L. zveri and Eupolybothrus obrovensis, while other species are surface dwellers. The potential explanation of surface species presence in caves is discussed. We comment on cases of unresolved taxonomical status and present suggestions for further research needed to resolve them. Even though lithobiomorph centipedes often occur in caves, their role and importance in subterranean habitats remain to be studied.
Aphaenogasterillyrica
sp. nov.
, a member of the
A.subterranea
species group, is described from Dinaric Alps of Slovenia and Croatia, from Golešnica Mt. in north Macedonia, Osogovo-Belasica Massif of ...southwestern Bulgaria, and from Kerkini Mts. of Greek Macedonia. It is characterised by large body size, moderately sculptured head, elevated mesonotum, and long propodeal spines. Its habitat preferences are discussed. A key to the
Aphaenogastergraeca
complex is provided.
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 for two days in two parallel sets, a ground trap and an upper one-just below the ceiling-along the cave. In the upper set, about 10% additional species were recorded compared to the ground set. Greater species diversity in the cave was the consequence of both the increased sampling effort and the amplified heterogeneity of sampled microhabitats. In caves sampled by traditional pitfall trapping, overlooked species may be a consequence of methodological biases, leading to lower biodiversity estimates. In our research, incidencebased estimations mostly surpassed abundance-based ones and predicted 95% coverage of the species richness within about two years of sampling. The sampling used contributes at the same time to both the more effective and less invasive inventory of the subterranean fauna. Thus, it may serve as an optional sampling to achieve optimal balance between required data for biodiversity and ecological studies, and nature conservation goals.
Diplura is a group of entognathous hexapods, often considered a sister group to insects. They play an important role in recycling organic matter in soil and subterranean terrestrial ecosystems. The ...Campodeidae is the most diverse family, divided into four subfamilies. The subfamily Plusiocampinae has a subterranean life-style with many species distributed in the Euro-Mediterranean area. The incertae sedis tachycampoids (“lignée Tachycampoïde”) is a group within the family Campodeidae that share with the Plusiocampinae a strong preference for subterranean habitats and several morphological characters, such as slender body shape, elongated appendages, considerable increment in the number of antennomeres and cercal articles, and complexity of sensorial structures. The present monograph provides a taxonomic revision of the subfamily Plusiocampinae and the genera belonging to the tachycampoid lineage from Europe and the Mediterranean region. It comprises detailed morphological descriptions and illustrations together with data on the habitats and distributions of 87 species, 10 subspecies and 11 affinis forms. Seven new species are described among those, namely: Plusiocampa (Plusiocampa) apollo Sendra, Giachino & Vailati sp. nov., P. (P.) chiosensis Sendra & Gasparo sp. nov., P. (P.) dublanskii Sendra & Turbanov sp. nov., P. (P.) hoffmanni Sendra & Paragamian sp. nov., P. (P.) rhea Sendra sp. nov., P. (P.) ternovensis Sendra & Borko sp. nov. and P. (Venetocampa) ferrani Sendra & Delić sp. nov.
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•First macroevolutionary exploration of the chemosensory system in cave fauna.•Phylogenomic characterization of chemosensory genes in 41 insect species.•The evolution of ...chemoreceptors is highly dynamic in subterranean beetle lineages.•Gustatory sugar receptors were potentially lost in Cholevinae species.•CO2 and ionotropic receptors 8a and 25a show copy-number variation among Coleoptera.
Chemical cues in subterranean habitats differ highly from those on the surface due to the contrasting environmental conditions, such as absolute darkness, high humidity or food scarcity. Subterranean animals underwent changes to their sensory systems to facilitate the perception of essential stimuli for underground lifestyles. Despite representing unique systems to understand biological adaptation, the genomic basis of chemosensation across cave-dwelling species remains unexplored from a macroevolutionary perspective. Here, we explore the evolution of chemoreception in three beetle tribes that underwent at least six independent transitions to the underground, through a phylogenomics spyglass. Our findings suggest that the chemosensory gene repertoire varies dramatically between species. Overall, no parallel changes in the net rate of evolution of chemosensory gene families were detected prior, during, or after the habitat shift among subterranean lineages. Contrarily, we found evidence of lineage-specific changes within surface and subterranean lineages. However, our results reveal key duplications and losses shared between some of the lineages transitioning to the underground, including the loss of sugar receptors and gene duplications of the highly conserved ionotropic receptors IR25a and IR8a, involved in thermal and humidity sensing among other olfactory roles in insects. These duplications were detected both in independent subterranean lineages and their surface relatives, suggesting parallel evolution of these genes across lineages giving rise to cave-dwelling species. Overall, our results shed light on the genomic basis of chemoreception in subterranean beetles and contribute to our understanding of the genomic underpinnings of adaptation to the subterranean lifestyle at a macroevolutionary scale.
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