Volume 49, Issue 1 (2020)
Cover and Front Matter
Articles
Survey of Histoplasma capsulatum in bat guano and status of histoplasmosis in Slovenia, Central Europe
Janez Mulec, Saša Simčič, Tadeja Kotar, Romina Kofol, and Sanja Stopinšek
- The prevalence of Histoplasma capsulatum in Europe might be still underestimated
- Histoplasma in cavers is commonly undetected
- Clinical and environmental samples showing positive for Histoplasma should be re-evaluated with complementary molecular analyses
- There is a lack of awareness of histoplasmosis among cave explorers and clinicians
Active growth of non-hydrothermal subaqueous and subaerial barite (BaSO4) speleothems in Lechuguilla Cave (New Mexico, USA)
Max Wisshak, Hazel A. Barton, Katey E. Bender, and Harvey R. DuChene
- Two types of barite speleothems are described from Lechuguilla Cave (NM, USA)
- These are bluish tabular pool crystals and actively dripping greenish stalactites
- They form in today’s non-hydrothermal and vadose environment
- They form via evaporation, mixing of differing fluids, and/or by microbial activity
- Three types of microbes were found partly incrusted on the pool barite
Uncertainties associated with the use of erosional cave scallop lengths to calculate stream discharges
Gregory S. Springer and Andrew Hall
- Cave scallops are erosional features carved by floodwaters
- Scallop lengths are used to calculate water velocities but methods vary
- Methods and sampling sizes create uncertainties that meaningfully affect results
- Scallops are log-normally distributed and all sizes should be measured
- A minimum sample size of 30 is recommended and precision should not be overestimated
Impacts of invasive rats on Hawaiian cave resources
Francis G. Howarth and Fred D. Stone
- Invasive rats damage cave resources
- Rats damage paleontological resources
- Rats endanger cave life
- Rats damage archaeological resources
Culture dependent analysis of bacterial diversity in Canada’s Raspberry Rising Cave revealed antimicrobial properties
Soumya Ghosh, Gabrielle Kam, Monique Nijjer, Christian Stenner, and Naowarat Cheeptham
- Microbiological study for marble cave in Canada
- Microbial diversity (cultural-based approach) of marble cave of Canada
- Anti-MDR activity from marble cave isolates
Cave airflow mechanism of a crevice-type cave: A case study from Czechia
Martin Kašing and Jan Lenart
- The first ever complex research of ventilation within a crevice-type cave
- The rough value of ventilation of the Velká Ondrášova Cave corresponds to ~13,000–30,000 m3/day
- Outdoor wind is suggested as an important trigger of the cave airflow
- The temperature gradient explained ~80% of the analyzed cave airflow variability
