Short Communication: Cave-dwelling Arthropod community of Semedi Show Cave in Gunungsewu Karst Area, Pacitan, East Java, Indonesia

Abstract

Kurniawan ID, Rahmadi C, Caraka RE, Ardi TE. 2018. Short Communication: Cave-dwelling Arthropod community of Semedi Show Cave in Gunungsewu Karst Area, Pacitan, East Java, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 19: 857-866. Arthropods are a major group of animals which have significant roles in maintaining cave ecosystem stability. Semedi is a new show cave, but information about arthropods in this cave was not available. The use of cave as a tourist attraction will bring environmental changes which potentially disturb cave-dwelling arthropod community. This study aimed to measure arthropod diversity and their relation to abiotic factors in Semedi Show Cave. Arthropods were sampled by hand collecting, a combination of pitfall and bait traps, and Berlese extractor. Abiotic factors measured were climatic and edaphic parameters. Sampling was conducted in the 3 zones of Semedi cave (Entrance, Twilight, and Dark). Data were analyzed by calculation of richness (Margalef), diversity and evenness (Shannon-Wiener) indices, cluster and correlation analyses. A total 1095 individuals of arthropods consisting of 102 morphospecies, belonging to 6 Classes, and 19 Orders were sampled during this study. The entrance zone had higher richness and diversity indices (richness=12.80, diversity=3.40) than the twilight zone (richness=7.85, diversity=3.25) and the dark zone (richness=5.35, diversity=2.63). Meanwhile, the twilight zone had higher evenness index (0.85) than the entrance zone (0.77) and the dark zone (0.77). Each zone of Semedi cave had different abiotic conditions. Abiotic conditions and Arthropod communities in the twilight and dark zones were more similar to each other than to those of the entrance zone. The statistical analyses showed that there were significant correlations between abiotic factors and arthropod communities. Semedi had various cave-dwelling arthropods. Sustainable management of show cave should be applied to minimize the destructive impact of tourism activities on the cave arthropod community.

Determination of arthropod biodiversity and some ecological parameters of Erdal Şekeroğlu (Isparta, Turkey) and Kadıini (Antalya, Turkey) cave ecosystems with evaluation of usability of insects in cave mapping

“…The higher similarity among these arthropod assemblages is caused by the higher abiotic similarity among the twilight and dark zones. These results are found similar to those of other studies (Kurniawan et al, 2018).…”

“…For species diversity, results of the diversity indices revealed that the twilight zones in both caves are less diverse than the entrance zones and the dark zones. Our study thus agrees with similar studies conducted on species diversity of arthropods inhabiting different cave zones (Prous et al, 2004;Tobin et al, 2013;Kurniawan et al, 2018). However, most of these studies have revealed that the state of diversity varies between zones depending on the many biotic and abiotic factors (Tobin et al, 2013).…”

“…This is particularly the case in Turkey, despite it being a cave rich country. One approach that can be useful in filling this knowledge gap is the use of indicator species, i.e., species that are indicators of the condition of a habitat, community or ecosystem (McGeoch & Chown, 1998;Zacharias & Roff, 2001;Carignan & Villard, 2002;Niemi & McDonald, 2004;Latella et al, 2012;Kurniawan et al, 2018). In the cave ecosystems, indicator species have been used to determine microhabitat, cave area or season and to monitor organic pollution and the effects of cave tourism (Eberhard, 1992;Moulds, 2006;Village et al, 2019).…”

A preliminary survey of the abundance, diversity and distribution of terrestrial macroinvertebrates of Gcwihaba cave, northwest Botswana

“…Cave floor pH deceased (became more acidic) with distance into the cave likely due to greater quantities of bat guano in deeper sites since bat guano has acidic pH (Sikazwe and De Waele 2004). Greater diversity of macroinvertebrates has been shown to occur in higher soil pH closer to cave entrance (Kurniawan et al 2018). Decomposition of bat guano releases ions (Sikazwe and De Waele 2004) into the cave floor which can explain greater EC at deeper sites where bat guano is more abundant.…”

The Impact of Lampenflora on Cave-dwelling Arthropods in Gunungsewu Karst, Java, Indonesia

“…The presence of troglobitic fauna in a show cave should be get more attentions because cave fauna that is classified as troglobite is known to have a small population size and vulnerable to extinction (Culver & Pipan, 2009;Culver & White, 2012;Romero, 2009). Environmental changes caused by human activities and unsympathetic management of show cave can be a serious threat for troglobitic species (Kurniawan et al, 2018;Macud & Nuñeza, 2014).…”