Abstract
Subterranean karst systems are wetlands with a generally poor biodiversity, but species typically are ecologically specialized with a high level of endemism and heightened risk of extinction. A number of diverse habitats may develop in the three zones characterized by the extent and permanence of water within the karst voids. The subterranean environment is a relatively closed space, with restricted connections to other ecosystems, and primarily dependent upon organic material dispersed in percolating water through the fissured ceiling or carried with streams entering through sinkholes. Permanent residents of subterranean habitats (troglobionts) exhibit morphological and physiological changes that may include disappearance of skin and eye pigmentation, reduction of eyes, elongation of body appendages, and elongation of the body. Beetles and crustaceans (especially Copepoda and Amphipoda) are by far the richest groups of terrestrial and aquatic troglobionts, respectively, but diversity is still poorly described for many areas. Subterranean wetlands and their inhabitants remain poorly understood, and habitat destruction is the principal threat to hypogean fauna.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Barr TC. Cave ecology and the evolution of troglobites. Evol Biol. 1968;2:35–102.
Bilandžija H, Morton B, Podnar M, Ćetković H. Evolutionary history of relict Congeria (Bivalvia: Dreissenidae): unearthing the subterranean biodiversity of the Dinaric Karst. Front Zool. 2013;10:5–17.
Biospéologie VA. La biologie des animaux cavernicoles. Paris: Gauthier Villars; 1964.
Botosaneanu L, editor. Stygofauna Mundi. A faunistic, distributional, and ecological synthesis of the World fauna inhabiting subterranean waters. Leiden: Brill; 1986.
Culver DC, Sket B. Hotspots of subterranean biodiversity in caves and wells. J Cave Karst Stud. 2000;62(1):11–7.
Culver DC, Christman MC, Elliott WR, Hobbs III HH, Reddell JR. The North American obligate cave fauna: regional patterns. Biodivers Conserv. 2003;12:441–68.
Gunn J, editor. Encyclopedia of caves and karst science. New York/London: Fitzroy Dearborn; 2004.
Guzik MT, Austin AD, Cooper SJB, Harvey MS, Humphreys WF, Bradford T, Eberhard SM, King RA, Leys R, Muirhead KA, Tomlinson M. Is the Australian subterranean fauna uniquely diverse? Invertebr Syst. 2010;24:407–18.
Kostanjšek R, Pašić L, Daims H, Sket B. Structure and community composition of sprout-like bacterial aggregates in a Dinaric Karst subterranean stream. Microb Ecol. 2013;66(1):5–18.
Oromi P, Martin JL. The Canary Islands subterranean fauna characterization and composition. 1992. http://www.atlantic-island.eu/documentos/Oromi Martin1992.pdf
Pašić L, Kovče B, Sket B, Herzog-Velikonja B. Diversity of microbial communities colonizing the walls of a karstic cave in Slovenia. FEMS Microbiol Ecol. 2009;71(1):50–60.
Peck SB. A summary of diversity and distribution of the obligate cave-inhabiting faunas of the United States and Canada. J Cave Karst Stud. 1998;60:18–26.
Ruffo S. Le attuali conoscenze sulla fauna cavernicola della Regione Pugliese. Mem Biogeografia Adriat. 1957;3:1–143.
Sket B. The ecology of the anchihaline caves. Trends Ecol Evol. 1996a;11(5):221–5.
Sket B. Biotic diversity of hypogean habitats in Slovenia and its cultural importance. In: Biodiversity – International Biodiversity Seminar, UNESCO, Gozd Martuljek, Proceedings; 1996b. p. 59–74.
Sket B. The cave hygropetric – a little known habitat and its inhabitants. Arch fur Hydrobiol. 2004;160(3):413–25.
Sket B. Can we agree on an ecological classification of subterranean animals? J Nat Hist. 2008;42(21):1549–63.
Sket B. Diversity and singularity of hypogean fauna in the Dinaric region. In: Abstracts 14th International Symposium Biospeleology, Makarska; 1999. p. 21–5.
Sket B, Zakšek V. European cave shrimp species (Decapoda: Caridea: Atyidae), redefined after a phylogenetic study; redefinition of some taxa, a new genus and four new Troglocaris species. Zool J Linn Soc. 2009;155:786–818.
Sket B, Paragamian K, Trontelj P. A census of the obligate subterranean fauna in the Balkan Peninsula. In: Griffiths, HI & Kryštufek, B, editors. Balkan biodiversity. Pattern and process in Europe’s biodiversity hotspot. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers B.V.; 2004. p. 309–32.
White WB, Culver DC, editors. Encyclopedia of caves. 2nd ed. San Diego: Elsevier; 2012.
Zagmajster M, Culver DC, Sket B. Species richness patterns of obligate subterranean beetles in a global biodiversity hotspot – effect of scale and sampling intensity. Divers Distrib. 2008;14:95–105.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
Sket, B. (2018). Subterranean (Hypogean) Habitats in Karst and Their Fauna. In: Finlayson, C., Milton, G., Prentice, R., Davidson, N. (eds) The Wetland Book. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4001-3_241
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4001-3_241
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4000-6
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-4001-3
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences