Diversity and ecology of the macro-invertebrate fauna (Nemata and Arthropoda) of Kartchner Caverns, Cochise County, Arizona, United States of America

Pape, Robert B.; OConnor, Barry M.

doi:10.15560/10.4.761

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Light is sufficient to support photosynthesis, thereby supporting CO 2 fixation and primary production ( Kozlova and Mazina, 2020 ). The availability of organic matter in the twilight and aphotic zones is extremely limited as it mainly depends on the input of exogenous organic matter via airflow, bat feces, and external organic matter excreted by burrowing animals such as cave rats ( Pape and OConnor, 2014 ; Pfendler et al, 2019 ). Due to the differences in light, mineral components, and organic matter from different light zones, we hypothesize that (1) microbial communities living on the rocks vary with the zones, and mineral substrates significantly contribute to the variation; (2) bacterial and fungal communities interact intensively to sustain the microbial ecosystem on the rock; and (3) different ecological processes would contribute to the community assembly of bacteria and fungi, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Characterization of Microbiome and Interactions on Weathered Rocks in a Subsurface Karst Cave, Central China

et al. 2022

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Karst caves are a natural oligotrophic subsurface biosphere widely distributed in southern China. Despite the progress in bacterial and fungal diversity, the knowledge about interactions between bacteria, fungi, and minerals is still limited in caves. Hence, for the first time, we investigated the interaction between bacteria and fungi living on weathered rocks in the Heshang Cave via high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA and ITS1 genes, and co-occurrence analysis. The mineral compositions of weathered rocks were analyzed by X-ray diffraction. Bacterial communities were dominated by Actinobacteria (33.68%), followed by Alphaproteobacteria (8.78%), and Planctomycetia (8.73%). In contrast, fungal communities were dominated by Sordariomycetes (21.08%) and Dothideomycetes (14.06%). Mineral substrata, particularly phosphorus-bearing minerals, significantly impacted bacterial (hydroxyapatite) and fungal (fluorapatite) communities as indicated by the redundancy analysis. In comparison with fungi, the development of bacterial communities was more controlled by the environmental selection indicated by the overwhelming contribution of deterministic processes. Co-occurrence network analysis showed that all nodes were positively linked, indicating ubiquitous cooperation within bacterial groups and fungal groups, as well as between bacteria and fungi under oligotrophic conditions in the subsurface biosphere. In total, 19 bacterial ASVs and 34 fungal OTUs were identified as keystone taxa, suggesting the fundamental role of fungi in maintaining the microbial ecosystem on weathered rocks. Ascomycota was most dominant in keystone taxa, accounting for 26.42%, followed by Actinobacteria in bacteria (24.53%). Collectively, our results confirmed the highly diverse bacterial and fungal communities on weathered rocks, and their close cooperation to sustain the subsurface ecosystem. Phosphorus-bearing minerals were of significance in shaping epipetreous bacterial and fungal communities. These observations provide new knowledge about microbial interactions between bacteria, fungi, and minerals in the subterranean biosphere.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Characterization of Microbiome and Interactions on Weathered Rocks in a Subsurface Karst Cave, Central China

et al. 2022

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“…This Special Issue of Diversity aims to explore the relationships among cave-dwelling species, considering not only troglobionts, but all the organisms occurring from the entrance to the deepest sectors, a topic which is still poorly explored. Our goal is to stimulate and collect new research focused on multiple cave species [37,44], or on the ecological role that single species have for the local ecosystem [31,45]. For example, considering the ecological gradient occurring from the cave entrance to the deepest areas (light, microclimatic variability and food availability vs. darkness, microclimatic stability and food scarcity; [27]), species occupy areas according to their preference [46][47][48][49], and consequently form different communities characterised by specific intrinsic dynamics [30,43,50,51].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cave Communities: From the Surface Border to the Deep Darkness

Lunghi

Manenti

2020

Diversity

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The discipline of subterranean biology has provided us incredible information on the diversity, ecology and evolution of species living in different typologies of subterranean habitats. However, a general lack of information on the relationships between cave species still exists, leaving uncertainty regarding the dynamics that hold together cave communities and the roles of specific organisms (from the least to the most adapted species) for the community, as well as the entire ecosystem. This Special Issue aims to stimulate and gather studies which are focusing on cave communities belonging to all different typologies of subterranean habitats, with the overarching goal to corroborate the key role of the subterranean biology in ecological and evolutionary studies.

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A comprehensive update on the morphology and distribution of the invasive scaffold-web spider Eidmannella pallida (Araneae, Nesticidae) with a focus on new records from Italy

NARDI,

PANTINI,

RIZZO

et al. 2023

Zootaxa

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Updated non-native distributional data of the invasive spider Eidmannella pallida (Emerton, 1875), Nesticidae, are herein summarized together with the morphological characters of the species. We report all the known localities from the literature. Furthermore, we present and discuss recent findings for the Italian peninsula. In particular, the species has been consistently found in vineyards and annual crop fields in North Italy and in olive groves in South Italy. We include a redescription of the species, and detailed illustrations of the diagnostic characters of both males and females, based on stereomicroscope and SEM images. The spreading potential of the species and its possible impacts on local communities are discussed. Our data suggest that E. pallida has high invasiveness potential and several new findings in non-native areas were recorded in the last years. We found that E. pallida can establish permanent populations in crop-dominated landscapes and has a tendency to exploit vulnerable ecosystems such as the subterranean environment. We thus recommend new and more comprehensive studies on this species to investigate in deeper detail its phylogeny, ecology, and micro-habitat preferences. A high effort should be placed to assess the potential negative effects of E. pallida on the endemic fauna in invaded areas, especially in caves.

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Diversity and ecology of the macro-invertebrate fauna (Nemata and Arthropoda) of Kartchner Caverns, Cochise County, Arizona, United States of America

Cited by 3 publications

References 50 publications

The Characterization of Microbiome and Interactions on Weathered Rocks in a Subsurface Karst Cave, Central China

The Characterization of Microbiome and Interactions on Weathered Rocks in a Subsurface Karst Cave, Central China

Cave Communities: From the Surface Border to the Deep Darkness

A comprehensive update on the morphology and distribution of the invasive scaffold-web spider Eidmannella pallida (Araneae, Nesticidae) with a focus on new records from Italy

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