Karst Cave Geoheritage in Protected Areas: Characterisation and Proposals of Management of Deep Caves in the Picos de Europa National Park (Spain)

Ballesteros, Daniel; Fernández‐Martínez, Esperanza; Urquí, Luis Carcavilla; Jiménez-Sánchez, Montserrat

doi:10.1007/s12371-019-00416-8

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…The river network comprises three main river basins: Sella, Deva and its tributary the Cares, together with their small tributaries, being the main component of flow directed to the North. These rivers cover an altitudinal range between 100 and 1000 m.a.s.l., highlighting the existence of river canyons, such as the Cares (Ballesteros et al, 2019;Mele ´ndez et al, 2019). These streams are located within the Spanish provinces of Asturias, Cantabria and Leo ´n.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Variability of diatom community composition and structure in mountain streams

et al. 2021

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Small rivers support high levels of biodiversity, being especially sensitive to the effects of global change. Temporal records of community composition in minimally impaired streams can be used to explore trends in biodiversity in response to climate change and natural temporal variation. We approached the comparison of two time periods (2003–2008 and 2016–2020) to study whether the composition of diatom assemblages changed over time in twenty-three streams of the mountain range of Picos de Europa (Northern Spain). The stream’s water chemistry indicated significant decreases in N_NO3− and P_PO43− content over time. In these minimally disturbed streams, the specific diatom community was dominated by Achnanthidium pyrenaicum, Achnanthidium minutissimum and Cocconeis euglypta. PERMANOVA analyses did not identify significant changes in diatom assemblage composition between periods or river types. Diatom indices (e.g. IPS, NORTIdiat) indicated high or good ecological status and relatively high alpha diversity values were found in these mountain rivers during the studied years. Although diversity and evenness showed a significant decrease over time, the temporal stability of the river-type diatom reference community between the two periods should be considered as an indicator of biodiversity persistence of high importance when monitoring the ecological status following the reference condition approach.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Variability of diatom community composition and structure in mountain streams

et al. 2021

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“…However, karst environments constrain human activities and provide a peculiar, sometimes spectacular, landscape to enjoy [19][20][21][22][23][24]. The endokarst, in particular, gains relevance both for its geotourism potential (e.g., speleo-tourism) [25][26][27][28] as well as its scientific and didactic-pedagogical scope [29][30][31].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Endokarst Potential in the Northern Sector of Santo António Plateau (Estremadura Limestone Massif, Central Portugal)

Reis,

Dimuccio,

Cunha

2023

Sustainability

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Karst is a peculiar natural landscape arising from high rock solubility and well-developed underground solutional channel porosity. It is unique for its surface relief (exokarst) and subsurface drainage, including cave systems (endokarst). In Portugal, karst areas mainly consist of marginal or low-density territories with great fragility and vulnerability and great geo-environmental richness that merits better policies and practices regarding their geo-conservation. Endokarst potential assessments can provide decision-makers and local authorities insight into present and future territorial management and planning. In this context, the main objective of this study was to produce a cartographic model to identify areas with a greater probability of containing karstic caves—i.e., a greater endokarst potential—in the northern sector of the Santo António Plateau (Estremadura Limestone Massif, Central Portugal). Geological, topographic, hydrogeological, and land cover data were collected, processed, and integrated into a spatial database using a Geographic Information System. The locations of known cave entrances in the study area were also identified from local public institutions and speleological team records. Subsequently, four conditioning factors were extracted from the data: lithostratigraphic units, fracture density, relief energy, and land cover. Using a multi-criteria decision-making analysis, each previously chosen conditioning factor and its respective classes were weighted using an analytic hierarchy process. The locations of known cave entrances served to evaluate the cartographic model built, with results showing an agreement of 81.9%. This prototype of the endokarst potential map for the study area may be used for strategic and operational environmental planning (at least on a local scale) to assist decision-makers, competent authorities, and local speleological teams. Its application may promote a more accurate and thoughtful definition of areas to be investigated, substantially reducing the time and costs associated with field prospecting.

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“…However, the karst environment not only has constraints on human activities but also has a peculiar (sometimes spectacular) landscape to enjoy (Brilha, 2005;Cunha et al, 2014Cunha et al, , 2018Aleksandar, 2019;Khalaf, 2022;Valjavec et al, 2022). This underground landscape becomes even more interesting for geo-tourism purposes (e.g., speleo-tourism) (Rodrigues et al, 2017;Torres et al, 2018;Ballesteros, 2019;Chiarini, 2022), but also in the scientific and didactic-pedagogical scope (Hobléa, 2004;Leslie, 2011;Abdellah et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endokarst Potential Assessment in the Northern Sector of Santo António Plateau (Estremadura Limestone Massif, Central Portugal)

Reis¹,

Dimuccio²,

Cunha³

2023

Preprint

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This work aims to produce a cartographic model that identifies areas with a greater probability of finding karstic caves - the endokarst potential - in the northern sector of Santo António Plateau (Estremadura Limestone Massif, Central Portugal). Geological, topographic, hydrogeological, and vegetation cover data were collected, processed, and integrated into a spatial database using a geographic information system (GIS). The location of known cave entrances in the study area was also identified from the records of local public institutions and speleological teams. Four conditioning factors were extracted from the collected data, including lithostratigraphic units, fracture density, relief energy, and land cover. In a multi-criteria decision-making analysis framework, each previously chosen conditioning factor and respective classes/categories were weighted using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). With an agreement of 81.9%, the results of the cartographic model constructed in GIS seem to be promising, considering that the entrances of the known caves are mainly located in areas classified as having high to very high endokarst potential. This prototype of the endokarst potential map for the study area can be used in strategic and operational environmental planning (at least on a local scale), as it can assist decision-makers, competent authorities, and local speleological teams in a more accurate and thoughtful definition of the areas that should be investigated, providing a substantial reduction in times and costs field prospecting.

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Karst Cave Geoheritage in Protected Areas: Characterisation and Proposals of Management of Deep Caves in the Picos de Europa National Park (Spain)

Cited by 12 publications

References 49 publications

Variability of diatom community composition and structure in mountain streams

Variability of diatom community composition and structure in mountain streams

Assessing Endokarst Potential in the Northern Sector of Santo António Plateau (Estremadura Limestone Massif, Central Portugal)

Endokarst Potential Assessment in the Northern Sector of Santo António Plateau (Estremadura Limestone Massif, Central Portugal)

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