Fungi isolated and quantified from bat guano and air in Harmanecká and Driny Caves (Slovakia)

Abstract

This study is the first mycological evaluation of bat guano and the air around it in Harmanecká and Driny Caves in Slovakia. These caves are the most important underground localities of bats in Slovakia. Samples were collected in July 2014 and cultivated for fungi. Harmanecká Cave had seven species of filamentous fungi and one yeast-like fungus isolated from bat guano, compared to six species of filamentous fungi in guano from Driny Cave. Air samples from Harmanecká Cave had twelve species of fungi, compared to nine species from Driny Cave. Fungal density was higher in guano from Driny Cave (4720.1 CFU/g guano) than from Harmanecká Cave (3498.3 CFU/g). The pattern was reversed with fungi from the air. Fungal density in air from Harmanecká Cave (211.3 CFU/m 3 ) was higher than that from Driny Cave (175.7 CFU/m 3 ). Penicillium granulatum was the most frequently isolated fungal species, except in the guano of Driny Cave, where Mucor hiemalis was most common. Bat guano is a very good substrate for the development and survival of fungi in the caves, and it can be a reservoir of fungi harmful for bats. However, air samples from both caves contained more species of fungi than the bat guano, because the majority of fungi are transferred to underground ecosystems with air bioaerosols from the external environment.

Speleomycology of air in Demänovská Cave of Liberty (Slovakia) and new airborne species for fungal sites

“…3). The presence of these new species can be associated with anthropogenic factors, and the presence of bats in the Demänovská Cave of Liberty, because those factors can contribute to the qualitative and quantitative changes of fungal communities inhabiting underground areas (Griffin et al, 2014;Kokurewicz et al, 2016;Ogórek et al, 2016b).…”

Dark stains on rock surfaces in Driny Cave (Little Carpathian Mountains, Slovakia)

“…(Nováková 2009; Bezerra et al 2012; Ogórek et al 2016a, b). The literature also reported that the active growth of this species was found on marten excrement in Domica Cave (Slovakia), but it was identified only by morphological features and without detailed characterization (Nováková 2005).…”

Habitat and Season Dependent the Invasion of Micro-fungi in Decaying Wooden Flinders: a Case Study of the Dandak Cave of Chhattisgarh, India

“…(Al-Doory & Rhoades, 1968;Carvajal, 1977a,b,c;Ashford ., 1999;Larcher ., 2003), sp (Lurie & Borok, 1955;Nováková, 2009;Martin-Sanchez ., 2014;) and , where the anthropogenic pressure remains high (Saiz-Jimenez, 2015). The species (Rippon, 1988;Moore-Landeckar, 1996) and (Fiorina , 2000;Ogorek ., 2016;Vanderwolf , 2013) isolated by us has also been reported earlier from some caves .…”