Interior spaces of the forested rocky debris (MSS) represent a transition zone between the surface and deep underground spaces and a place of animal adaptation to underground life. They serve as a refuge for relict fauna as well. The study was conducted in the limestone scree slopes in Sivec National Nature Reserve (Čierna Hora Mts, Western Carpathians, elevation about 500 m a. s. l.) covered by linden-maple forest from September 2008 to November 2009. The effort was to define the vertical and seasonal aspects of invertebrates and temperature regime. Invertebrates were collected by using subterranean traps (plastic cups with 4% formaldehyde, inserted into the depths 5-95 cm through a plastic tube), which were checked monthly. Almost 26,000 specimens were trapped. Arthropods highly dominated over gastropods and earthworms. Collembola (67.61%) and Acarina (15.55%) were eudominant. Macrofauna was represented mainly by larvae of Holometabola (7.55%) and adult Diptera (5.11%) and Coleoptera (1.13%). All these groups were captured along the total depth gradient. Coleoptera were studied in more details. Among 11 Coleoptera families, Staphylinidae predominated and were captured at all levels. Rather high species diversity was found: 67 spp. excluding common epigeic fauna. Some species supposed to be subterranean, e.g., Bryaxis frivaldszkyi slovenicus, Duvalius bokori valyianus and Omalium validum. Activity of most invertebrate groups decreased significantly with depth (prevalence of surface fauna), but it was not terminated at 1 m under surface; the same was true for beetles, both in activity and diversity. Conspicuous fact is that a mass of subterranean species were traced also close to the surface (35 cm), i.e., probably it is not necessary to put the traps as deep as in this study. Seasonal climate changes affected the activity of invertebrates which was the highest at the end of spring and the lowest during winter, but it was not completely interrupted. Microclimate was characteristic without major temperature fluctuations on the surface. It was stable deeper along with increasing average annual temperature. High diversity and the occurrence of rare faunistic elements as well as specific habitats of MSS are perspective study objects and they merit care; mature design of the next studies considering the effect of season and depth of traps deposition shall do them more effective and less laborious.

Macroecologists seek to identify drivers of community turnover ( β -diversity) through broad spatial scales. However, the influence of local habitat features in driving broad-scale β -diversity patterns remains largely untested, owing to the objective challenges of associating local-scale variables to continental-framed datasets. We examined the relative contribution of local- versus broad-scale drivers of continental β -diversity patterns, using a uniquely suited dataset of cave-dwelling spider communities across Europe (35–70° latitude). Generalized dissimilarity modelling showed that geographical distance, mean annual temperature and size of the karst area in which caves occurred drove most of β -diversity, with differential contributions of each factor according to the level of subterranean specialization. Highly specialized communities were mostly influenced by geographical distance, while less specialized communities were mostly driven by mean annual temperature. Conversely, local-scale habitat features turned out to be meaningless predictors of community change, which emphasizes the idea of caves as the human accessible fraction of the extended network of fissures that more properly represents the elective habitat of the subterranean fauna. To the extent that the effect of local features turned to be inconspicuous, caves emerge as experimental model systems in which to study broad biological patterns without the confounding effect of local habitat features.

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Diversity, depth distribution and seasonal activity of isopods and myriapods were studied using subterranean traps buried in a forested limestone scree slope in the Čierna Hora Mts, Western Carpathians, Slovakia, throughout the depth gradient from 5 to 95 cm. A total of five isopod, 13 diplopod and 11 chilopod species were identified. Most edaphic species strongly preferred the uppermost organic soil layers. Among the species captured, some represented rare stenoecous Carpathian endemics, namely the isopod Trichoniscus carpaticus, and diplopods Julus curvicornis and Leptoiulus mariae. Others were subterranean forms, partly adapted to hypogean conditions: the isopod Mesoniscus graniger, and diplopods Mecogonopodium carpathicum and Trachysphaera costata. The annual activity in the vast majority of the species ceased completely in winter, and was gradually relaunched in spring. In evaluating the age structure of two predominant diplopods Polydesmus denticulatus and Mecogonopodium carpathicum, both widespread across the depth gradient, a vertical segregation of early post-embryonic stages was found. While P. denticulatus tended to undergo the early stages of development in the soilfilled topmost levels, the early juvenile stage of M. carpathicum was distributed deep in the scree slope profile.

Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) are widespread in subterranean ecosystems worldwide and represent an important component of subterranean trophic webs. Yet, global-scale diversity patterns of subterranean spiders are still mostly unknown. In the frame of the CAWEB project, a European joint network of cave arachnologists, we collected data on cave-dwelling spider communities across Europe in order to explore their continental diversity patterns. Two main datasets were compiled: one listing all subterranean spider species recorded in numerous subterranean localities across Europe and another with high resolution data about the subterranean habitat in which they were collected. From these two datasets, we further generated a third dataset with individual geo-referenced occurrence records for all these species. Data from 475 geo-referenced subterranean localities (caves, mines and other artificial subterranean sites, interstitial habitats) are herein made available. For each subterranean locality, information about the composition of the spider community is provided, along with local geomorphological and habitat features. Altogether, these communities account for > 300 unique taxonomic entities and 2,091 unique geo-referenced occurrence records, that are made available via the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) (Mammola and Cardoso 2019). This dataset is unique in that it covers both a large geographic extent (from 35° south to 67° north) and contains high-resolution local data on geomorphological and habitat features. Given that this kind of high-resolution data are rarely associated with broad-scale datasets used in macroecology, this dataset has high potential for helping researchers in tackling a range of biogeographical and macroecological questions, not necessarily uniquely related to arachnology or subterranean biology.