Volume 48, Issue 2 (2019)
Cover and Front Matter
Articles
Morphological and mineralogical evidence for ancient bat presence in Cova des Pas de Vallgornera (Llucmajor, Mallorca, Western Mediterranean)
Antoni Merino, Joan J. Fornós, Antoni Mulet, and Joaquín Ginés
- Cova des Pas de Vallgornera hosted bat colonies circa 2.4 My ago
- Guano related minerals are reported, underlining phosphates mineral group
- Presence of morphologies related to ancient guano deposits
- Features caused by bat's biomechanical erosion, bat claws and bat thumb marks
- Connections between weather patterns and preference for roosting and breeding sites
Comparison of some epigean and troglobiotic animals regarding their metabolism intensity. Examination of a classical assertion
Tatjana Simčič and Boris Sket
- The low metabolic rate is not a universal property of troglobiotic animals
- The degree of metabolic adaptation is not necessarily in agreement with the degree of troglomorphy
Culture-based analysis of ‘Cave Silver’ biofilms on Rocks in the former Homestake mine in South Dakota, USA
Amanpreet K. Brar and David Bergmann
- ‘Cave silver’ biofilms were found on 1470 m level of Sanford Underground Research Facility in the former Homestake mine
- Diluted R2A agar, CN agar, and CN gellan gum media were used to isolate bacteria
- Most isolates were Alphaproteobacteria and Actinobacteria
- Some uncharacterized genera were isolated
Species-area model predicting diversity loss in an artificially flooded cave in Brazil
Rodrigo L. Ferreira and Thais G. Pellegrini
- This is the first study on species-loss from a partially flooded cave
- We estimated the effects of area lost for cave invertebrates through the species-area equation
- As expected the community showed a drastic richness reduction after losing area
- High temporal beta diversity occurs when comparing the community before and after the inundation
- The study highlighted that area loss resulted in a drastic reduction of cave richness
The multifaceted effects induced by floods on the macroinvertebrate communities inhabiting a sinking cave stream
Octavian Pacioglu, Nicoleta Ianovici, Mărioara N. Filimon, Adrian Sinitean, Gabriel Iacob, Henrietta Barabas, Alexandru Pahomi, Andrei Acs, Hanelore Muntean, and Lucian Pârvulescu
- Floods affect invertebrate communities from sinking cave-stream ecosystems
- The floods decreases invertebrate community’s density, complexity and stability
- Significant amounts of fine organic matter are carried within the cave
- The flow variability acted as rejuvenating factor for the invertebrate community
Breakdown mechanisms in iron caves. An example from Brazil
Marcelo R. Barbosa, Allan D.F. da Silva, Rafael G. De Paula, Georgete M. Dutra, Airton Barata, Iuri V. Brandi, Chrystophe R.P. da Silva, and Robert A. Osborne
- An iron cave is suppressed within a controlled mine advancement operation with strong monitoring
- Geostructural continuous monitoring registering the first damages up to the total collapse
- The project lasted four years allowing identification of four breakdown mechanisms for iron caves
- The work discusses the mechanisms and relationships with geomechanical and stability issues
Are microclimate conditions in El Malpais National Monument caves in New Mexico, USA suitable for Pseudogymnoascus growth?
Terry J. Torres-Cruz, Andrea Porras-Alfaro, Nicole A. Caimi, Ogochukwu Nwabologu, Edward W. Strach, Kaitlyn J.H. Read, Jesse M. Young, Debbie C. Buecher, and Diana E. Northup
- El Malpais caves provide ideal temperature and relative humidity conditions for P. destructans
- Close relatives of P. destructans were documented in El Malpais study caves
- No P. destructans presence was detected
- Areas at highest risk for becoming infected with P. destructans were identified
Multi-phased hypogene speleogenesis in a marginal horst structure of the Malé Karpaty Mountains, Slovakia
Pavel Bella, Pavel Bosák, Petr Mikysek, Juraj Littva, Helena Hercman, and Jacek Pawlak
- Fault-controlled multi-phased hypogene speleogenesis
- Morphological indicators of sulfuric acid speleogenesis
- Cave levels represented by horizontal passages with flat corrosion floors and water-table notches
- Cave levels formed in relation to the landform evolution during the subsidence of the Vienna Basin
- Isotopic alteration of limestone bedrock on the cave wall
