Assessment of Abundance and Species Composition of Filamentous Fungi in the Underground Rzeczka Complex in Sowie Mountains (Lower Silesia,Poland)

Our study is the first mycological evaluation of the air and the rocks in the underground Rzeczka complex in Sowie Mountains (Lower Silesia, Poland). The density of filamentous fungi isolated from the air inside and outside the adit ranged between 245.5 to 1332.6 Colony Forming Units in 1 m³ of air. Sixteen species of filamentous fungi were isolated from the internal air sampled and 11 from the outside of the adit. Cladosporium spp. were the fungi most frequently isolated from the internal atmosphere of the adit and from the external air. From the rock walls and from the rock debris on the floor of the adit only seven species of fungi were isolated. The fungi most frequently isolated from the rock walls were the Aspergillus niger group and from the rock debris we also found A. niger group along with species of Mucor. The concentration of airborne fungi in the adit did not exceed official limits and norms present for a health risk to the tourists, but fungi species isolated from the rocks can cause their degradation.     

Abundance and Diversity of Psychrotolerant Cultivable Mycobiota in Winter of a Former Aluminous Shale Mine

This paper is a speleomycological report from a former aluminous shale mine in Janowiec, Poland. Fungi were identified morphologically and molecularly. Microclimatic conditions differed significantly between locations of the study. However, the external environment around the mine did not directly increase the community composition and concentration of fungi in the mine. The density of fungi isolated from the air outside the mine was 63.1 colony forming units (CFU) per 1 cm³ of air. Inside the mine, fungal density ranged from 287.5 to 655 CFU per 1 m³ from the air, 28.4 to 131.1 CFU per 1 cm² from the rock surfaces and 288.1 to 335.1 CFU per 1 cm³ from the water. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the levels of fungi isolated from the air were correlated positively with temperature, relative humidity and CO₂ concentration. The concentration of fungi isolated from the rock surfaces showed a positive correlation with air flow. Five species of filamentous fungi were isolated from the sampled external air, 10 species from the internal air, six species from the rock surface and 11 species from the water. The fungi most frequently isolated from the air and water of the mine belonged to Penicillium spp., whereas from the rock surface, Geomyces pannorum was most frequently isolated. Some of the fungi present in the mine can be psychrotolerant and pathogenic for humans and animals, and they can also cause degradation of rocks.     

Airborne fungi as indicators of ecosystem disturbance: an example from selected Tatra Mountains caves (Poland)

We report on the determination of the spore concentration and the species composition of the airborne fungi in selected caves of the Tatra Mountains, Poland. The following caves were surveyed: Mylna, Ob?azkowa, Mro?na, Zimna and Naciekowa. The sampling was carried out in July 2015 and in January 2016. The aeromycological analyses were performed with the impact method, using the Air Ideal 3P apparatus and potato dextrose agar (PDA, Biocorp) culture medium. In the course of the July 2015 analysis, 17 species of fungi were isolated and 11 species were isolated in January 2016. In Mylna and Naciekowa caves, the dominant species were Cladosporium cladosporioides and Stachybotrys cylindrospora. In Ob?azkowa cave, Rhizoctonia predominated and in Zimna cave—the colonies of the yeast-like fungi, along with S. cylindrospora. In Mro?na cave, Penicillium notatum was the most abundant taxon. In the winter time, in the majority of the caves Penicillium spp. predominated, with the exception of Mro?na and Naciekowa caves where Aspergillus niger was dominant. We propose that aeromycological monitoring be performed regularly in the following caves: Mro?na, Naciekowa and Zimna.     

Hunting,disturbance and roost persistence of bats in caves at Ankarana,northern Madagascar

Surveys and monitoring of 37 caves in and around the Ankarana Special Reserve, northern Madagascar, yielded evidence of hunting of bats and potential disturbance of bats by miners and tourists, and colony counts for several bat species of potential conservation concern. Colony size decreased by 95% and 14% for a colony of Hipposideros commersoni and a colony of Eidolon dupreanum, respectively, when recent evidence of hunting occurred at those colonies and those declines are probably attributable to hunting. Evidence of hunting occurred commonly at the roosts of those species and most commonly at the roosts of Rousettus madagascariensis. Hunting of pteropodids was associated with high vulnerability of roosts to hunters, little forest buffer between the cave and open savannah and the absence of tombs in the cave. Roost sites of the hunted species persisted for at least several years and this regularity may facilitate hunting. This work supports the ranking of E. dupreanum, R. madagascariensis and H. commersoni as species of conservation concern. Managers should consider the impact of tourist visits on bats and of increasing access to caves for tourism. Conservation efforts for the hunted species should also seek to protect vulnerable and unprotected cave roosts.     

Cave lithology determining the structure of the invertebrate communities in the Brazilian Atlantic Rain Forest

In Brazil, only limestone caves and a few caves in sandstone, iron ore and granite rocks had their invertebrate communities evaluated. Being such, the present study aimed to promote a comparative analysis of the structure of the invertebrate communities in caves associated to carbonatic, magmatic, siliciclastic and ferruginous rocks of the Brazilian Atlantic forest. Significant differences in the relative richness, abundance and diversity were observed between lithologies. The average relative richness was higher in the ferruginous caves (0.53 spp). The total number of troglomorphic species was significantly different among caves and the highest average richness occurred at ferruginous caves (5.79 spp/cave). Siliciclastic, carbonatic and magmatic caves presented a higher quantitative similarity of the fauna. Ferruginous caves revealed communities with a fauna composition different from the other lithologies. The total richness of invertebrates correlated significantly and positively with the linear development in the siliciclastic caves (R_s = 0.67, P < 0.05), carbonatic (R_s = 0.71, P < 0.05) and ferruginous (R_s = 0.74, P < 0.05). The rock type in which the cave is inserted can determine differences in the richness of invertebrate troglophyles and troglobites. Therefore, on creating value attributes, the size of the caves should always come related to their lithology by the fact that same sized caves associated to different lithologies, possess communities with quite diverse structures.     

中华菊头蝠的栖息生态特征及种群保护

中华菊头蝠(Rhinolophus sinicus)主要分布于我国境内,属于典型的洞栖食虫性蝙蝠,具有重要的研究意义与保护价值。近年,在湘西州境内的16个溶洞中对其栖息生态特征进行了观察,共记录到其个体12942只次,数据分析结果显示：该蝠是该区域溶洞中的居留型优势蝠种,具有集群冬眠的习性。每年的9月中下旬开始逐步聚群冬眠,翌年的3月底开始苏醒,其夏季的繁育场所非常隐蔽,通常位于人无法进入的洞段或人迹罕至的洞穴。总体上,其栖点主要集中于距洞口150—200 m(91.60%)的洞段,离地高度6—10 m(91.75%),多以“双足悬挂”的栖姿将身体悬空倒挂于洞道的顶壁。其体温与栖点温度之间不存在显著性差异(P>0.05),但具有明显的线性正相关关系(R~2=0.8886)。其栖点安全性春夏季高,秋冬季中等偏低。中华菊头蝠作为该区域洞栖性蝙蝠的优势种,在维持洞穴生态系统的稳定中发挥着至关重要的作用,加强对洞穴生态系统中蝙蝠伞护性的研究有助于洞穴生态保护教育及对蝙蝠种群的保护实践。     

Fungal Communities on Rock Surfaces in Demänovská Ice Cave and Demänovská Cave of Liberty (Slovakia)

This paper is the first geomycological report regarding the fungal communities on rock surfaces in the Demänovská Ice Cave and the Demänovská Cave of Liberty, Slovakia. The samples were collected in June 2014 from five locations from inside both the caves by using sterile swabs wetted with physiological saline (0.85% NaCl). The density of epilithic fungi isolated from the Demänovská Ice Cave ranged from 238.7 to 575.1 CFU (colony-forming units) per m² of the rock surface, and from the Demänovská Cave of Liberty ranged from 88.6 to 347 CFU. Seventeen different free-living culturable fungi (15 filamentous fungi, one yeast, and one yeast-like fungus) were isolated from the rock surfaces of both caves. Generally, Cladosporium cladosporioides and Aspergillus flavus were the most frequently cultured species from the Demänovská Ice Cave and the Demänovská Cave of Liberty, respectively. Free-living fungi found on the rock surfaces of both caves can lead to their slow biodegradation.     

Troglomorphic Sculpins of the Cottus Carolinae Species Group in Perry County, Missouri: Distribution, External Morphology, and Conservation Status

The existence of cavernicolous sculpin (here allocated to Cottus carolinae, banded sculpin, and referred to as grotto sculpin), in the karst regions of Perry County, Missouri, first came to our attention in 1991. Examination of 35 caves in Missouri, 96 in Illinois, 17 in Tennessee, two in Indiana, and 11 in Arkansas revealed that banded sculpin are common in cave habitats; however, grotto sculpin are limited to two karst areas of Perry County, Missouri, where they are known from only six cave systems. These caves and their streams are extensive and apparently provide a unique habitat compared to other karst systems; this may be a critical factor in the present restricted distribution of the grotto sculpin. Grotto sculpin occupy pools and riffles of cave streams, and occur over a variety of substrates, from sediment to breakdown. Density estimates in Mystery and Running Bull caves were 0.29 and 0.63 individuals m^-2, respectively. Grotto sculpin have small eyes (1–6% SL vs. 6–10% SL in epigean samples), significantly reduced pigmentation (including nearly complete loss of dorsal saddles), a reduction in pelvic fin ray number (from 4+4 elements to often 4+3 , or 3+3), and enlarged cephalic lateralis pores (e.g., mandibular pores of cavernicolous samples are 2–3 times those of epigean stream samples). Multivariate analyses of body shape revealed statistically significant separation of epigean and hypogean samples, with eye size highly variable, but smallest in the Running Bull Cave population. We interpret these results as representative of losses associated with long-term cave habitation. Caves of Perry County provide ample habitat for grotto sculpin, but because the caves are located downgradient of the city of Perryville and an intensively farmed landscape, point and non-point source pollution threaten their continued existence. Escape of farm-pond fishes through the extensive sinkhole network in Perry County has increased potential predation pressure on grotto sculpin by channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, and other species normally excluded from cave environments.     

Cyanidium chilense (Cyanidiophyceae,Rhodophyta) from tuff rocks of the archeological site of Cuma,Italy

Phlegrean Fields is a large volcanic area situated southwest of Naples (Italy), including both cave and thermoacidic habitats. These extreme environments host the genus Cyanidium; the species C. chilense represents a common phototrophic microorganism living in anthropogenic caves. With a view to provide a comprehensive characterization for a correct taxonomic classification, morpho‐ultrastructural investigations of C. chilense from Sybil's cave (Phlegren Fields) was herein carried out and compared with the thermoacidophilic C. caldarium. The biofilm was also analyzed to define the role of C. chilense in the establishment of a biofilm within cave environments. Despite the peculiar ecological and molecular divergences, C. chilense and C. caldarium shared all the main diacritic features, suggesting morphological convergence within the genus; cytological identity was found among C. chilense strains geographically distant and adapted to different substrates, such as the porous yellow tuff of Sybil cave, and calcyte, magnesite and basaltic rocks from other caves. C. chilense is generally dominant in all biofilms, developing monospecific islets, developing both superficially or between fungal hyphae and coccoid cyanobacteria. Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) were recorded in C. chilense biofilms from Sybil cave, confirming the role of EPS in facilitating cells adhesion to the surface, creating a cohesive network of interconnecting biofilm cells.     

Studies on the distribution of alkalophilic and alkali-tolerant soil fungi II: Fungal flora in two limestone caves in Japan

In a series of studies on the distribution of alkalophilic and alkali-tolerant fungi, soil fungi were isolated from five alkaline calcareous soil samples in two closely located limestone caves (stalactite caves) in Japan using slightly acidic and alkaline media. Some common soil fungi that can grow in alkaline conditions were obtained in high frequencies. The growth response to pH of the isolates revealed that approximately one third (30.8%) of the isolates had the optimum pH in the alkaline range. All isolates of fourAcremonium species and twoChrysosporium species grew well in alkaline conditions, of whichAcremonium sp. andChrysosporium sp. were pronounced alkalophiles. These fungi were thought to be indigenous species in this alkaline environment. The fungal flora in the Japanese alkaline soils was considerably different from the flora reported in alkaline environments in other countries.     

Life in the dark: far-red absorbing cyanobacteria extend photic zones deep into terrestrial caves

Chlorophyll (Chl) f and d are the most recently discovered chlorophylls, enabling cyanobacteria to harvest near-infrared radiation (NIR) at 700–780 nm for oxygenic photosynthesis. Little is known about the occurrence of these pigments in terrestrial habitats. Here, we provide first details on spectral photon irradiance within the photic zones of four terrestrial cave systems in concert with a detailed investigation of photopigmentation, light reflectance and microbial community composition. We frequently found Chl f and d along the photic zones of caves characterized by low light enriched in NIR and inhabited by cyanobacteria producing NIR-absorbing pigments. Surprisingly, deeper parts of caves still contained NIR, an effect likely attributable to the reflectance of specific wavelengths by the surface materials of cave walls. We argue that the stratification of microbial communities across the photic zones of cave entrances resembles the light-driven species distributions in forests and aquatic environments.     

The broad-scale distribution of microfungi in the Windmill Islands region, continental Antarctica

Microfungi were isolated from soils, mosses, algae and lichens in the Windmill Islands region of Antarctica. From a total of 1,228 isolates, 22 genera were identified. The most frequently isolated fungi from mosses were Mycelia sterilia (47% of total isolates), Phoma spp. (18%), Penicillium spp. (11%), Chrysosporium spp. (7%) and Thelebolus microsporus (6%). Mycelia sterilia, Penicillium spp., Mortierella spp., Chrysosporium cf. pannorum and Thelebolus microsporus were also frequently isolated from algae. Fungal distribution and diversity were poor in samples of lichens, compared to samples from mosses and algae. The frequency of occurrence of microfungi was most often associated with strong biotic influence. There was a marked increase in fungal diversity in human-disturbed sites. Twelve taxa were restricted to soils from near the Australian Casey Station, suggesting significant introduction of fungi into this environment by human activities. Away from the station, fungal distribution appeared to be related to substrata and nutrient status rather than dispersal opportunities. Suggestions for future research and the need for constant monitoring to clarify the role of human disturbance on Antarctic fungi are discussed. Received: 1 April 1997 / Accepted: 17 August 1997     

Diet and body condition of cave‐dwelling dwarf crocodiles (Osteolaemus tetraspis,Cope 1861) in Gabon

We present the first ever observations of dwarf crocodiles (Osteolaemus tetraspis) selectively utilizing a cave ecosystem. We analysed crocodile diet to preliminarily assess the degree of ecological isolation of cave‐dwelling crocodiles from their forest‐dwelling conspecifics despite their physical proximity. We additionally conducted the first study of body condition of dwarf crocodiles and compared cave‐dwelling individuals to surface‐dwelling individuals from a variety of alternative habitats and sites as a means to better understand the implications of a semihypogean life on this species. Crocodiles captured in the caves appeared to forage exclusively in the caves and ate mostly cave crickets and bats, whereas crocodiles captured in the surrounding forest habitat consumed primarily freshwater crustaceans and insects and were not found to consume cave‐dwelling prey. Juvenile cave crocodiles had significantly higher body condition compared to juvenile forest crocodiles, which did not vary amongst forest locations. The difference in body condition between adult cave and forest crocodiles was not statistically significant despite also being higher; we suspect this is an artefact of the low sample size rather than a real nondifference. Forest adult crocodiles generally had significantly higher body condition than juveniles, but did not vary by site or habitat. This lack of variation suggests that habitat type is not the most important factor influencing dwarf crocodile body condition. Our results provide a unique insight into facultative cave use by a principally surface‐dwelling species and reinforce the necessity for further research into this unique system to better understand the evolutionary‐scale implications of cave habitat use by dwarf crocodiles.     

中国喀斯特洞穴维管植物多样性

洞穴是喀斯特景观中普遍存在的地质地貌结构, 拥有丰富的植物资源。仅2001-2020年间, 就发表了中国喀斯特洞穴维管植物新属1个; 新种(含种下等级) 170个, 隶属于16科31属, 占近20年发表的中国维管植物新种的3.9%, 说明洞穴植物具有较高的物种多样性潜力。据统计, 中国喀斯特洞穴维管植物有110科339属871种, 主要分布于广西、广东、贵州、云南、重庆等地。物种数排名前5的科包括苦苣苔科、荨麻科、鳞毛蕨科、秋海棠科和茜草科, 其所含物种数共占整个洞穴植物种类的39.4%; 排名前5的属包括报春苣苔属(Primulina)、楼梯草属(Elatostema)、耳蕨属(Polystichum)、秋海棠属(Begonia)和凤尾蕨属(Pteris), 其所含物种数共占整个洞穴植物种类的25.1%。本名录的所有洞穴植物中, 草本习性的种类占一半以上。从洞内分布来看, 仅有10.7%的种类分布于弱光带, 其中石松类和蕨类植物占比远高于被子植物, 说明前者更能适应弱光带的极端环境。不仅如此, 洞穴维管植物也具有较高的特有性成分, 其中省级特有种占比25.8%, 分别包括非洞穴特有种(11.0%)、多洞穴特有种(3.3%)和单洞穴特有种(11.5%)。依据文献显示受威胁种类有115种(占13.0%)。受威胁种类占比较高的类群均是近年来发表新种较多的科, 包括鳞毛蕨科、苦苣苔科、荨麻科、秋海棠科、茜草科等。针对这些类群, 有待更详细地调查来完善对它们的评估。此外, 本名录中至少有36%的种类没有任何分子数据, 亟待补充。     

Habitat Use,Roost Selection and Conservation of Bats in Tsingy De Bemaraha National Park,Madagascar

Although the land mammals of Madagascar have been the subject of many studies, the island’s bats have yet to feature prominently on the research or conservation agenda. In this study we used mist nets, acoustic sampling and cave surveys to assess habitat use, seasonality and roost selection. Four microchiropteran species (Triaenops rufus, T. furculus, Miniopterus manavi and Myotis goudoti) appeared to be strongly associated with the forest interior based on trapping, but analysis of time-expanded echolocation recordings revealed that T. rufus and M.␣manavi were frequently recorded in forest edges and clearings. Bat activity was significantly lower inside the forest than at the interface between agricultural land and forest. The caves visited most often by tourists were low in bat abundance and species richness. Anjohikinakina Cave, which was visited infrequently by people, was used by five species and contained between 54% (winter) and 99% (summer) of bats counted in 16 caves and is a site of national importance for bat conservation. Hipposideros commersoni was only netted in our study area during October and may be a migrant to the site or present but inactive during the austral winter. The forest surrounding the caves is therefore important because it provides cover for emerging bats and a potential source of invertebrate prey whilst the forest edge is important to foraging bats.     

Cave invertebrate assemblages differ between native and exotic leaf litter

Abstract Allochtonous leaf litter is an important source of energy and nutrients for invertebrates in cave ecosystems. A change to the quality or quantity of litter entering caves has the potential to disrupt the structure and function of cave communities. In this study, we adopted an experimental approach to examine rates of leaf litter decomposition and the invertebrate assemblages colonizing native and exotic leaf litter in limestone caves in the Jenolan Caves Karst Conservation Reserve, New South Wales, Australia. We deployed traps containing leaf litter from exotic sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) and radiata pine (Pinus radiata) trees and native eucalypts (Eucalyptus spp.) in twilight zones (near the cave entrance) and areas deep within the caves for 3 months. Thirty‐two invertebrate morphospecies were recorded from the litter traps, with greater richness and abundance evident in the samples from the twilight zone compared with areas deep within the cave. Sycamore litter had significantly greater richness and abundance of invertebrates compared with eucalypt and pine litter in samples from the twilight zone, but there was no difference in richness or abundance among litter samples placed deep within the cave. Relative rates of decay of the three litters were sycamore > eucalypt > pine. We discuss the potential for the higher decomposition rates and specific leaf area in sycamores to explain their higher invertebrate diversity and abundance. Our findings have important implications for the management of exotic plants and the contribution of their leaf litter to subterranean ecosystems.     

Penicillium Mycobiota in Arctic Subglacial Ice

Fungi have been only rarely isolated from glacial ice in extremely cold polar regions and were in these cases considered as random, long-term preserved Aeolian deposits. Fungal presence has so far not been investigated in polar subglacial ice, a recently discovered extreme habitat reported to be inhabited exclusively by heterotrophic bacteria. In this study we report on the very high occurrence (up to 9000 CFU L⁻¹) and diversity of filamentous Penicillium spp. in the sediment-rich subglacial ice of three different polythermal Arctic glaciers (Svalbard, Norway). The dominant species was P. crustosum, representing on the average half of all isolated strains from all three glaciers. The other most frequently isolated species were P. bialowiezense, P. chrysogenum, P. thomii, P. solitum, P. palitans, P. echinulatum, P. polonicum, P. commune, P. discolor, P. expansum, and new Penicillium species (sp. 1). Twelve more Penicillium species were occasionally isolated. The fungi isolated produced consistent profiles of secondary metabolites, not different from the same Penicillium species from other habitats. This is the first report on the presence of large populations of Penicillium spp. in subglacial sediment-rich ice.     

Bacterial and Fungal Diversity of Quaternary Cave Sediment Deposits

The bacterial and fungal assemblages of clastic sediments collected from two caves located in north-western Romania were investigated by assessing ITS and 16S rRNA gene diversity. Bacterial members belonging to Chloroflexi, Nitrospirae, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Acidobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, and fungal members of Ascomycota were identified. Except for Bacillus sp., all bacteria were related to uncultured or unknown species and the majority (86%) of the bacterial sequences from one of the caves had no close GenBank relatives. The bacterial sequences obtained clustered with species found in extreme environments. Half of the bacterial operational taxonomic units were clustered with clones isolated from deep subsurface sediments of a radioactively contaminated site in the USA. The present study represents the first attempt to identify microorganisms in Quaternary cave sediments.

Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Geomicrobiology Journal to view the supplemental file.     

Nontroglobitic Fishes in Bruffey-Hills Creek Cave, West Virginia, and other Caves Worldwide

Six species of fishes were tagged and released in September and November 1995 and on five dates between November 1998 and October 1999 inside Bruffey-Hills Creek Cave. Most of the tagged fishes were creek chub, Semotilus atromaculatus, and green sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus. The overall recapture rate was 2.6% as only three of 117 fishes were recaptured. Forty-nine days was the longest time of residence by two L. cyanellus and one S. atromaculatus, and movement of 83.4 m was observed only for the creek chub. Tag loss was confirmed as one factor in the low recapture rate. Nine species of fishes were collected in the cave, including Phoxinus oreas and Pimephales promelas, two species never collected in a cave. Most of the fishes were pigmented normally, but many creek chubs were depigmented and appeared white or pigmentless when first observed in the cave stream. Four species, Phoxinus oreas, Pimephales promelas, Ameiurus nebulosus, and Lepomis macrochirus, were collected for the first time in Bruffey-Hills Creek Cave and in the Bruffey and Hills creeks drainage. Although data from this study did not shed light on residence time of fishes in the cave, the consistent occurrence of epigean fishes in this cave was shown. A list of epigean fishes from caves worldwide was included along with a discussion of aspects of the ecology of epigean fishes in caves and of evolution of troglobitic fishes.     

Rediscovery of the “extinct” blind ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Trechinae)

The blind ground beetle Ishikawatrechus intermedius (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Trechinae), called Kadota‐mekurachibigomimushi in Japanese, was first found in 1952 in the cave Ôchi‐dô, Kôchi Prefecture, Japan. However, this cave and a large part of the surrounding hill were destroyed by limestone mining in the 1970s. Because most species of blind ground beetles are restricted to specific caves or cave systems, I. intermedius has been considered endemic to very narrow areas of the cave Ôchi‐dô and the upper hypogean zone around the cave. Therefore, I. intermedius was considered to have become extinct. In this study, during 2011–2015, we collected ten individuals of a blind ground beetle, which appeared to be I. intermedius, from the upper hypogean zone, approximately 0.3–1.0 m below ground, in the southern part of the type locality. A comparison with type specimens indicated that the individuals were indeed I. intermedius. Therefore, we conclude that I. intermedius survives in the upper hypogean zone near the type locality. The results of this study will be useful for quickly establishing conservation measures for threatened or vulnerable species of Trechinae beetles.