By Charlie Self
This issue contains eight generally short papers, half of them biological in nature.
In this study, invertebrate samples were collected from water bodies inside or at the entrance to 22 caves in northern Turkey. Environmental variables were measured before biological sampling and 29 out of 40 study sites contained invertebrates. A total of 13 ostracod (a small bivalve crustacean), 2 zooplankton and 43 phytoplankton taxa (types) were recorded, with three of the ostracod taxa being new for Turkish caves. The two copepod (crustacean zooplankton) species were recorded from a single cave, but these species are common across both surface and underground habitats throughout Turkey. Among the phytoplankton, cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) were the most abundant but were less diverse than the bacillariophyta (diatoms); several taxa of chlorophyta (green algae) and euglenophyta (flagellate algae) were also found. The caves studied show relatively low bio-diversity but the results suggest that each has its own unique biological characteristics.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries most biologists believed that cave-adapted animals derive from isolated relict populations. They are found in northern Europe, having survived successive glaciations by living underground, but were not expected to be found in tropical caves where there has been no such environmental pressure. New species might be found in tropical caves, but they would not show any special adaptation to underground life.
Several studies in Batu caves (Malaysia) from the early 20th century up to the 1960s proved the great biological diversity of these caves and also demonstrated both seasonal and diurnal (daily) changes in the species seen. However the fauna list is dominated by unremarkable species, with only a few small aquatic animals and a springtail showing any adaptation to living in caves. Similar findings were reported from elsewhere in the tropics during this period.
A biological "revolution" began in 1971 with the discovery of many different cave-adapted species living in geologically young lava tubes in Hawaii. These are not relict populations but species that are actively colonising a new environment and adapting to it. Since then, experienced caver-biologists have found specialised species in tropical caves around the world. Generally, such species are found in the deeper, more inaccessible parts of caves. The reason such species were not found in the shallow, guano-rich Batu caves is that this was simply the wrong place to look.
This is not so much a paper as a published extract from the personal caving diary of the late Tony Jarratt, when he was seconded by his employer (the Ordnance Survey)to work in Lesotho. The diary describes his visits to caves in both Lesotho and South Africa.
An incisor tooth from a young adult human was discovered lying on top of earth disturbed by an earlier archaeological dig. A radiocarbon date places the tooth in the early Neolithic period. Scratches on the tooth suggest that a right-handed individual had been cutting or processing materials with a stone tool while holding one end of the material in the mouth.
In the ultra-flat terrain of the Netherlands, quarried blocks of Lower Carboniferous limestone have been added as landscape features in a public park near Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, to make a more interesting and naturalistic appearance. The attraction includes a stone bridge over an artificial gully. It's karst, Jim … but not as we know it (with apologies to fans of the TV series Star Trek). An uncertain future for the plants of Gunung Kanthan, Perak, Malaysia Turkey
Gunung Kanthan is an isolated tower karst hill whose northern part has largely been quarried away. The southern part is pristine limestone forest with a diverse topography and many different micro-habitats. The criteria used by the Malaysian Nature Society for conservation importance include bio-diverse flora, fauna, unique geology and cultural values (e.g. temple caves). Gunung Kanthan has been rated important in all four categories, which makes this landscape one of the most in need of legal protection in Perak state.
In 2013, the public became aware that the quarry owners had plans to extend their workings across the southern part of Gunung Kanthan. This has now been put on hold pending a bio-diversity survey. A series of field visits by the authors during 2013 and 2014 recorded 223 plant species of which three were new to science. In terms of conservation importance, these three species are hyper-endemic since they are found nowhere else. A further four species are endemic in Perak state, while twelve are Malaysia Peninsular endemics. Using different criteria (the threat of extinction), four of the species found on Gunung Kanthan are critically endangered, seven are endangered while a further twelve are classed as vulnerable or rare because of their restricted distribution. A trapdoor spider endemic to Gunung Kanthan is classed as critically endangered.
To date, the results of the quarry company's own bio-diversity survey have not been made available. Limestone extraction is an important part of the local economy, but it is an abundant material in Perak state and could be quarried elsewhere with little environmental impact. Hopefully this paper will influence the debate about the future of Gunung Kanthan.
An Iranian cave with a substantial bat population provides a guano food source for a variety of beetles, ticks and mites. Among these invertebrates were found both adult and larval forms of a species of narrow-waisted bark beetle. These tiny wingless beetles were found only on bat droppings at the end of the cave, where temperature and relative humidity remain high and constant. This species is not common but is widely distributed in the world's temperate zones. It has not previously been recorded in Iran, but it is known to be a grain store pest. It is just possible that the cave was once used as a grain store by the inhabitants of ancient nearby cliff dwellings. This then leads to the question of whether the infested grain was locally sourced or imported. This is all highly speculative, but points to an interesting potential new line of research.
This paper describes a high-altitude cave located on the eastern Tibetan Plateau, close to the maximum northern extent of the Asian summer monsoon. The local climate is alpine sub-arctic, with long, cold and dry winters and short, mild and rainy summers. The cave is sub-horizontal and multi-level with both phreatic and vadose sections, but it does not currently carry a stream. The cave has abundant calcite speleothems, some of which have been collected for uranium-series dating. Preliminary results suggest that calcite deposition occurred both during the last interglacial and in the Recent post-glacial periods. Climatic conditions on the Tibetan Plateau play an important role in variations of the Asian summer monsoon, while conversely precipitation on the Tibetan Plateau itself is sensitive to global climate changes. It is hoped that speleothem studies may increase our understanding of this relationship.