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Volume 46, Issue 3 (2017)

Cover and Front Matter

Articles

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Subterranean systems provide a suitable overwintering habitat for Salamandra salamandra
Monika Balogová, Dušan Jelić, Michaela Kyselová, and Marcel Uhrin

  • The strong connection of the life cycle of fire salamanders with underground shelters
  • Observing of population size, survival, recapture probability of wintering populations
  • Karstic areas can induce group wintering in the fire salamander
  • Regular visits important for reliable estimate of the number of wintering individuals
  • Higher heterogeneity of habitat causes greater underestimating of the wintering population

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Timing of speleogenesis of Las Karmidas Cave (Mexico): first description of pseudokarst developed in ignimbrite
María del Pilar Aliaga-Campuzano, Rafael López-Martínez, Pablo Dávila-Harris, Ramón Espinasa-Pereña, Adriana Espino del Castillo, and J.P. Bernal

  • Cave hosted between ingnimbrite and calcareous diamicton, lavishly decorated with speleothems
  • Geochemical and geochronological constrains on the origin and development of the cave
  • Speleogenetic model based on stratigraphic, geochemistry and speloelogical surveys

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The impact of door opening on CO2 levels: A case study from the Balcarka Cave (Moravian Karst, Czech Republic)
Marek Lang, Jiří Faimon, and Sandra Kejíková

  • The impact of cave door opening on cave CO2 levels differs with cave ventilation modes
  • Under the upward airflow mode, the opening of cave doors led to decrease of CO2 levels
  • Under the downward airflow mode, however, the cave door opening led locally to increase of CO2 levels
  • This increase may be explained by a change of airflow paths and additional input advective fluxes of CO2 from soils/epikarst

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Mitigating the conflict between pitfall-trap sampling and conservation of terrestrial subterranean communities in caves
Peter Kozel, Tanja Pipan, Nina Šajna, Slavko Polak, and Tone Novak

  • Modified technique of pitfall trapping of the fauna in caves is presented
  • Amplified heterogeneity of sampled microhabitats improves biodiversity outcomes
  • The traditional sampling shows about 10% shortage in species richness
  • Suggested sampling approach mitigates sampling-fauna conservation conflicts

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Screening of antifungal susceptibility in cave-dwelling aspergilli and report of an amphotericin B-resistant Aspergillus flavus
Erika L.S. Taylor, Gabriella F. Ferreira, Gustavo J.C. Freitas, Rodrigo L. Ferreira, Daniel de Assis Santos, and Maria A. de Resende-Stoianoff

  • Aspergillus spp. represent many of the identified species isolated from caves
  • Aspergillus spp. can cause serious invasive opportunistic infections in humans
  • A. flavus amphotericin B resistant was isolated from a cave
  • A. flavus amphotericin B resistant is relied on higher ergosterol
  • A. flavus amphotericin B resistant is relied on activity against oxidative stress

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Differential preservation of vertebrates in Southeast Asian caves
Julien Louys, Shimona Kealy, Sue O'Connor, Gilbert J. Price, Stuart Hawkins, Ken Aplin, Yan Rizal, Jahdi Zaim, Mahirta, Daud A. Tanudirjo, Wahyu Dwijo Santoso, Ati Rati Hidayah, Agus Trihascaryo, Rachel Wood, Joseph Bevitt, and Tara Clark

  • We provide a systematic review of vertebrate preservation in Southeast Asian caves
  • Accumulation and preservation of vertebrate remains are highly dependent on local geology and environment
  • However the dominant factor responsible for faunal deposition is the presence or absence of biological accumulating agents
  • In small, isolated, volcanic islands, the only significant accumulation occurs in archaeological settings, limiting our understanding of the palaeontology of those islands
  • The criteria used to determine whether breccias represent syngenetic or multiple deposits remain critically understudied

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Anthropogenic infilling of a Bermudian sinkhole and its impact on sedimentation and benthic foraminifera in the adjacent anchialine cave environment
Jacquelyn N. Cresswell, Peter J. van Hengstum, Thomas M. Iliffe, Bruce E. Williams, and Gil Nolan

  • The response of anchialine caves to anthropogenic disturbance is poorly understood
  • Eve’s Pond in Bermuda was infilled with dredge spoil in the mid-20th century
  • It was speculated that Eve’s Pond was originally connected to the Green Bay Cave System
  • A core-based analysis of sediment and benthic foraminifera assess potential impact of infilling on cave benthos
  • Dredge spoils were documented in cave stratigraphy, with foraminifera negligibly impacted by infilling event

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Modelling the future spread of native and alien congeneric species in subterranean habitats — the case of Meta cave-dwelling spiders in Great Britain
Stefano Mammola

  • One of the first study to model the distribution of alien species in caves
  • Meta bourneti has most likely been introduced in Great Britain
  • Temperature seasonality and habitat heterogeneity mostly drive Meta spiders distribution
  • Due to climate change, there will be poleward shifts in the ranges of Meta spiders in Great Britain

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Martian cave air-movement via Helmholtz resonance
Kaj E. Williams, Timothy N. Titus, Chris H. Okubo, and Glen E. Cushing

  • Infrasonic resonance has previously been measured in terrestrial caves
  • We extend this reasoning to possible Martian caves
  • The utility of inferring cave volumes for planetary cave exploration is discussed

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Jahani Salt Diapir, Iran: hydrogeology, karst features and effect on surroundings environment
Mahmoud Abirifard, Ezzat Raeisi, Mehdi Zarei, Mohammad Zare, Michal Filippi, Jiří Bruthans, and Christopher J. Talbot

  • The hydrogeology, schematic model of flow direction
  • Hydrochemical effects of the Jahani Salt Diapir (JSD) on the adjacent water resources
  • Factors controlling the development of salt karst
  • The mechanisms prevent deep cave development and enforce the emergence points of brine springs
  • The morphology of the JSD was reevaluated by field work

Announcement

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Giovanni Badino (1953-2017)
Arrigo Cigna and Paolo Forti

Book Review