Subterranean biodiversity in New South Wales: from rags to riches

Thurgatel, Mia E.; Gough, Jane S.; Spate, Andy; Eberhard, Stefan

doi:10.18195/issn.0313-122x.64.2001.037-047

Cited by 17 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Additional taxa are likely to be found in SA, particular in springs and alluvia of less studied areas such as the Yorke Peninsula, southern Flinders Ranges and the Lofty Ranges. Temperate south-eastern Australia has already revealed significant diversity of subterranean fauna, predominantly collected from limestone caves (Hunt 1990;Eberhard et al 1991;Eberhard 1996;Thurgate et al 2001aThurgate et al , 2001bPonder et al 2005;Rix et al 2008) suggesting that Tasmania, Victoria and southern NSW would benefit from additional sampling effort in non-limestone terrains. In particular the Great Dividing Range and surrounds would be of interest.…”

Section: Australia-wide Projectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

VIEWPOINT. Is the Australian subterranean fauna uniquely diverse?

Guzik

Austin

Cooper

et al. 2010

Invert. Systematics

109

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Abstract. Australia was historically considered a poor prospect for subterranean fauna but, in reality, the continent holds a great variety of subterranean habitats, with associated faunas, found both in karst and non-karst environments. This paper critically examines the diversity of subterranean fauna in several key regions for the mostly arid western half of Australia. We aimed to document levels of species richness for major taxon groups and examine the degree of uniqueness of the fauna. We also wanted to compare the composition of these ecosystems, and their origins, with other regions of subterranean diversity world-wide. Using information on the number of 'described' and 'known' invertebrate species (recognised based on morphological and/or molecular data), we predict that the total subterranean fauna for the western half of the continent is 4140 species, of which~10% is described and 9% is 'known' but not yet described. The stygofauna, water beetles, ostracods and copepods have the largest number of described species, while arachnids dominate the described troglofauna. Conversely, copepods, water beetles and isopods are the poorest known groups with less than 20% described species, while hexapods (comprising mostly Collembola, Coleoptera, Blattodea and Hemiptera) are the least known of the troglofauna. Compared with other regions of the world, we consider the Australian subterranean fauna to be unique in its diversity compared with the northern hemisphere for three key reasons: the range and diversity of subterranean habitats is both extensive and novel; direct faunal links to ancient Pangaea and Gondwana are evident, emphasising their early biogeographic history; and Miocene aridification, rather than Pleistocene post-ice age driven diversification events

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Section: Australia-wide Projectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

VIEWPOINT. Is the Australian subterranean fauna uniquely diverse?

Guzik

Austin

Cooper

et al. 2010

Invert. Systematics

109

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“…In global context, the groundwater fauna of Australia (along with that of Africa) was very poorly known (Marmonier et al 1993), and that mostly from the investigation of cave faunas of eastern states (Thurgate et al 2001a(Thurgate et al , 2001b. Western Australia has been considered to have poor prospects for supporting specialized subterranean faunas, owing to the lack of water and low food input from xeric plant communities (Moore 1964, Hamilton-Smith 1967, Barr 1973, Howarth 1980.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First representative of the genus Allocyclops Kiefer, 1932 (Crustacea, Copepoda, Cyclopoida) from the Australian subterranean waters

Karanovic

2003

Ann. Limnol. - Int. J. Lim.

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A new species of the genus Allocyclops Kiefer, 1932 (Cyclopidae, Cyclopinae) is described from the subterranean waters of Barrow Island, Western Australia. It belongs to the subgenus Psammocyclops Kiefer, 1955, but has not any close relatives among the recent known species. With the addition of the new representative the genus Allocyclops now includes thirteen species on all continents, except Asia and Antarctica. A key to aid in their identification is provided.

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“…Subterranean environments provide unique and important habitat for many organisms (Thurgate et al 2001, Clements et al 2006, Silva and Ferreira 2016), yet are poorly studied, in part because accessing and working in these environments can be difficult. Cave‐dwelling fauna often displays unique physiological adaptations to both take advantage of the benefits of underground environments and cope with their challenges, particularly when it comes to maintaining a balanced energy budget.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking surface and subterranean climate: implications for the study of hibernating bats and other cave dwellers

et al. 2020

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Caves and other subterranean features provide unique environments for manyspecies. The importance of cave microclimate is particularly relevant at temperate latitudes where bats make seasonal use of caves for hibernation. White-nose syndrome (WNS), a fungal disease that has devastated populations of hibernating bats across eastern and central North America, has brought renewed interest in bat hibernation and hibernaculum conditions. A recent review synthesized current understanding of cave climatology, exploring the qualitative relationship between cave and surface climate with implications for hibernaculum suitability. However, a more quantitative understanding of the conditions in which bats hibernate and how they may promote or mediate WNS impacts is required. We compiled subterranean temperatures from caves and mines across the western United States and Canada to (1) quantify the hypothesized relationship between mean annual surface temperature (MAST) and subterranean temperature and how it is influenced by measurable site attributes, and (2) use readilyavailable gridded data to predict and continuously map the range of temperatures that may be available incavesandmines.Ouranalysissupportsqualitativepredictionsthatsubterraneanwintertemperaturesarecorrelated with MAST, that temperatures are warmer and less variable farther from the surface, and that even deep within-cave temperatures tend to be lower than MAST. Effects of other site attributes (e.g., topography, vegetation, and precipitation) on subterranean temperatures were not detected. We then assessed the plausibility of model-predicted temperatures using knowledge of winter bat distributions and preferred hibernaculum temperatures.Ourmodelunavoidablysimplifiescomplexsubterraneanenvironmentsandisnotintendedtoexplain all variability in subterranean temperatures. Rather, our results offer researchers and managers improved broad-scale estimates of the geographic distribution of potential hibernaculum conditions compared to reliance on MASTalone. We expect this information to better support range-scale estimation of winter bat distributions and projection of likely WNS impacts across the west. We suggest that our model predictions should serve as hypothesestobefurthertestedandrefinedasadditionaldatabecomeavailable.

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Subterranean biodiversity in New South Wales: from rags to riches

Cited by 17 publications

References 6 publications

VIEWPOINT. Is the Australian subterranean fauna uniquely diverse?

VIEWPOINT. Is the Australian subterranean fauna uniquely diverse?

First representative of the genus Allocyclops Kiefer, 1932 (Crustacea, Copepoda, Cyclopoida) from the Australian subterranean waters

Linking surface and subterranean climate: implications for the study of hibernating bats and other cave dwellers

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