An expert-based global assessment of threats and conservation measures for subterranean ecosystems

Abstract

Subterranean ecosystems host unique biodiversity and deliver important services to humans. Yet, available data for subterranean ecosystems are limited in space and/or taxonomic scope and global monitoring programs are absent, preventing practitioners to develop effective conservation and management strategies. Expert opinion may help overcome some of these knowledge gaps. We designed a global survey to quantify the importance of anthropogenic impacts and conservation measures for subterranean ecosystems. We obtained 279 responses from 155 experts in different subterranean habitats, taxa, and regions. Experts perceived surface habitat change, direct habitat destruction (e.g., pollution, damming, mining), and climate change as the most relevant threats impacting subterranean ecosystems. Legislation, land protection, and education were scored as the most effective conservation measures, whereas species-level conservation was deemed less relevant. Whenever lacking hard data, expert opinion may be an effective, largely available, yet often overlooked source of information to implement timely conservation interventions for subterranean ecosystems.

Contribution to the knowledge of the spider fauna of Morocco (Arachnida: Araneae) – First note – On new records of cave spiders

“…This confirms the high importance of cave-dwelling ecosystems for biodiversity conservation on a global scale due to their high level of endemism. Subterranean habitats are under increasing pressure caused by ongoing climate change (Vaccarelli et al 2023), are underrepresented in protected areas (Colado et al 2023) and are in urgent need of further research (Nanni et al 2023).…”

Functional convergence underground? The scale‐dependency of community assembly processes in European cave spiders

“…Overall, our findings reconcile contrasted views about the relative importance of the two main mechanisms shaping patterns of biodiversity and provide a conceptual foundation to account for scaling effects in the study of community assembly. This information is key amidst escalating global anthropogenic threats affecting surface (Bowler et al, 2020) and subterranean ecosystems (Nanni et al, 2023;Vaccarelli et al, 2023), insofar as realistic predictions of biodiversity change require explicitly accounting for community assembly processes (Ovaskainen et al, 2019).…”