Contrasting copepod community dynamics related to sampling strategies in the unsaturated zone of a karst aquifer

Drip heterogeneity and the impact of decreased flow rates on the vadose zone fauna in Ciur‐Izbuc Cave, NW Romania

“…Linear correlations were applied for the seasonal trend of both the drip rate and the abundances of A. transylvanicus and S. spelaeus . These two species were the most abundant groundwater species for the period between the winter of 2008 and the autumn of 2012 (Meleg et al, ).…”

“…The combined information on isotopes and the aquatic fauna in drips in Ciur‐Izbuc Cave has been used to explain the heterogeneity of groundwater communities (Moldovan et al, ) that sustained previous conclusions concerning extreme heterogeneity in space and time of the fauna that colonize the voids network (Moldovan et al, ; Moldovan, Pipan, Iepure, Mihevc, & Mulec, ; Rouch & Danielopol, ; Sket, Trontelj, & Žagar, ). The 1‐year monitoring in Ciur‐Izbuc Cave continued with seasonal monitoring of the fauna in drips for the period 2009–2011, which showed a general increase in faunal abundance beginning in autumn 2010, at least for the most abundant hypogean crustaceans, such as Acanthocyclops transylvanicus and Speleocamptus spelaeus (Meleg et al, ).…”

“…Therefore, even spatially close subcommunities might have different species composition in space and time as a consequence of (a) physical features of the karst (void topography and interconnectivity); (b) water flow (influenced by porosity, rainfall seasonality or randomness, and the occurrence of extreme rainfall events); (c) seasonal variations in water chemistry; (d) human activities on the surface (Bottrell & Atkinson, ; Kogovšek & Šebela, ; Meleg et al, ; Meleg et al, ); and (e) microbial activity (Benavente et al, ; Wood, Keller, & Johnstone, ). All of these factors can drastically impact on both the abundance and diversity of fauna at the analysed drip points, even if they are located close to each other (Meleg et al, ; Meleg et al, ; Meleg, Battes, Fiers, & Moldovan, ; Moldovan et al, ).…”

Finding answers in the dark: caves as models in ecology fifty years after Poulson and White

“…species exploiting subterranean habitats in certain phases of their life cycle (Diesel et al 1995, Polak 1997, Culver and Sket 2002, Glover and Altringham 2008, Novak et al 2010a, Chelini et al 2011, Polseela et al 2011, Baker 2015, Lipovšek et al 2016. As a direct consequence, there can be conspicuous temporal turnovers in the species composition in a typical subterranean community (Nitzu et al 2011, Bento et al 2016, Yun et al 2016, Bichuette et al 2017, especially in the vicinity of the surface (Rendoš et al 2012) which should be taken into account when designing ecological studies and sampling protocols (Culver and Sket 2002, Meleg et al 2015, Wynne et al 2018). For instance, different arthropods may actively move from larger cave chambers to the stable network of fissures and vice versa (Chapman 1985), or rearrange their spatial distribution along the cave length in different seasons (Crouau-Roy et al 1992, Mammola et al 2015a, 2017a, Lunghi et al 2017.…”

“…For instance, different arthropods may actively move from larger cave chambers to the stable network of fissures and vice versa (Chapman 1985), or rearrange their spatial distribution along the cave length in different seasons (Crouau-Roy et al 1992, Mammola et al 2015a, 2017a, Lunghi et al 2017. As a direct consequence, there can be conspicuous temporal turnovers in the species composition in a typical subterranean community (Nitzu et al 2011, Bento et al 2016, Yun et al 2016, Bichuette et al 2017, especially in the vicinity of the surface (Rendoš et al 2012) which should be taken into account when designing ecological studies and sampling protocols (Culver and Sket 2002, Meleg et al 2015, Wynne et al 2018).…”