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Volume 49, Issue 2 (2020)

Cover and Front Matter

Articles

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Anchialine biodiversity in the Turks and Caicos Islands: New discoveries and current faunal composition
Brett C. Gonzalez, Alejandro Martínez, Jørgen Olesen, Sarit B. Truskey, Lauren Ballou, Marc Allentoft-Larsen, Joost Daniels, Paul Heinerth, Mark Parrish, Naqqi Manco, Jon Ward, Thomas M. Iliffe, Karen J. Osborn, and Katrine Worsaae

  • New anchialine faunal discoveries from the Turks and Caicos Islands
  • Continued subterranean exploration continues to uncover animals new to science
  • Subterranean connectivity suggested for Turks and Caicos Islands
  • Lucayan archipelago remains a biodiversity hotspot for anchialine fauna

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An Epigravettian hypogeal site in the Grotta del Fiume Cave at Frasassi (northeastern Apennines, Italy): Environmental and geochronologic assessments
Alessandro Montanari, Artur Adamek, Angelo Curatolo, Marco P. Ferretti, Maurizio Mainiero, Sandro Mariani, David McGee, Gaia Pignocchi, and Stefano Recanatini

  • Topographic survey of a karstic cave
  • High-resolution mapping of archeological finds in a cave room
  • Exhaustive photographic documentation of the hypogeal environment and the archeological finds
  • Taphonomic study of animal bone deposits
  • Discrete sampling and radioisotopic dating of fireplace charcoal and animal bones

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Cosmogenic nuclide dating of cave sediments in the Eastern Alps and implications for erosion rates
Philipp Häuselmann, Lukas Plan, Peter Pointner, and Markus Fiebig

  • Dating of caves in the Northern Calcareous Alps gives absolute ages
  • Ages can be used to retrace valley erosion rates
  • Valley erosion rates are compared with other data throughout the Alps
  • Erosion rates are slower in Mio-Pliocene and accelerate in Quaternary

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Speleothems in quartz-sandstone caves of Ponta Grossa municipality, Campos Gerais region, Paraná state, southern Brazil
Henrique S. Pontes, Luiz A. Fernandes, Mário S. de Melo, Gilson B. Guimarães, and Laís L. Massuqueto

  • Speleothems in caves developed in quartz-sandstones
  • Opal-A and cryptocrystalline silica speleothems
  • Karst process in Furnas Formation and Vila Velha subunit of the Campo Mourão Formation
  • Speleothems with evidence of biologically induced mineralization
  • Campos Gerais karst region, Paraná state, Brazil

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Safe and effective disinfection of show cave infrastructure in a time of COVID-19
Hazel A. Barton

  • Showcaves have unique challenges to coronavirus disinfection
  • The chemistry of coronaviruses suggest they will adsorb to limestone
  • The chemistry of limestone surfaces is likely to inactivate coronaviruses
  • Effective disinfectants with minimal impact on caves were identified
  • Face masks and social distancing remain critical in preventing disease

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Did you wash your caving suit? Cavers’ role in the potential spread of Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the causative agent of White-Nose Disease
Violeta Zhelyazkova, Antonia Hubancheva, Georgi Radoslavov, Nia Toshkova, and Sebastien J. Puechmaille

  • The fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) is a deadly pathogen for bats
  • Pd spores can be present on caving equipment following a visit to a cave
  • Pd spores can survive on caving equipment for at least 25 days, and probably longer
  • Regular washing removes most Pd spores although it does not replace decontamination
  • Worldwide measures to reduce anthropogenic pathogen pollution in caves are needed

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The role of microhabitats in structuring cave invertebrate communities in Guatemala
Gabrielle S.M. Pacheco, Marconi Souza Silva, Enio Cano, and Rodrigo L. Ferreira

  • Troglobitic species responded to different substrate features than non-troglobitic species
  • The high specialization of troglobitic species might explain such different responses
  • The findings of this study give insights on how biodiversity is distributed within a cave
  • Conservation measures should aim to preserve as many microhabitats and trophic resources as possible

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