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Volume 49, Issue 1 (2020)

Cover and Front Matter

Articles

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

Book Review