A conservation roadmap for the subterranean biome

Abstract

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Towards evidence‐based conservation of subterranean ecosystems

“…We determined the main threats to subterranean ecosystems based on recent syntheses (Mammola et al ., 2019a, 2020a; Wynne et al ., 2021) complemented by our expert opinion. We grouped threats into the following eight categories: ( i ) Alien species & Pathogens (impacts due to alien species or pathogens); ( ii ) Climate change (impacts related to the alteration of climatic conditions); ( iii ) Overexploitation & Poaching (indiscriminate collection of species or overexploitation of biological resources); ( iv ) Pollution (organic and inorganic pollution events); ( v ) Surface habitat change (habitat alteration at the surface that affect subterranean systems; e.g.…”

“…Likewise, we determined the main conservation interventions based on general conservation science literature (Sutherland et al ., 2019) and our knowledge and expertise regarding subterranean ecosystems (Mammola et al ., 2019a, 2020a; Wynne et al ., 2021). We classified conservation measures as ‘indirect’ or ‘direct’ (Fig.…”

“…Despite the fact that legislative actions for subterranean environments have been taken at both national and international levels (Niemiller, Taylor & Bichuette, 2018), their effectiveness in terms of implementation and enforcement has not been rigorously evaluated. Whereas at the regional and national levels many subterranean organisms enjoy protection under endangered species designation, most international legislation and multilateral agreements overlook or only allude to subterranean environments (Wynne et al ., 2021). Policies for groundwater protection, for instance, have been implemented to protect effectively and use sustainably this resource at regional levels; however, explicit language on groundwater ecosystems is still needed to ensure such sustainability (Elshall et al ., 2020).…”

“…Following recent trends, it is clear there should be a substantial shift of focus towards the species and ecosystems traditionally overlooked in most global conservation agendas, such as caves and other subterranean ecosystems (Sánchez‐Fernández et al ., 2021; Wynne et al ., 2021; see definition in Section I.2). Due to the intrinsic inaccessibility of subterranean ecosystems (Ficetola, Canedoli & Stoch, 2019) and many impediments to research (Mammola et al ., 2021a), we currently know too little about subterranean biota to be able to routinely implement cost‐effective conservation interventions.…”

Climatic stability, not average habitat temperature, determines thermal tolerance of subterranean beetles

“…This information, combined with evaluation of exposure to climatic changes at their present locations, is needed to identify species or populations at greatest risk and to preserve this fragile and valuable component of global biodiversity, especially when it is systematically neglected by global climate change conservation strategies and agendas (Arneth et al, 2020;S anchez-Fern andez et al, 2021). In the era of climate change, when insect populations are going extinct at an unprecedented peace (Cardoso et al, 2020;Eisenhauer et al, 2019), it is important not to forget the biodiversity that dwells below our feet (Mammola et al, 2019c;S anchez-Fern andez et al, 2021;Wynne et al, 2021). It will be affected the same, if not more so, by a global temperature increase.…”