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Terrestrial Fauna in the Greenbrier Karst

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Caves and Karst of the Greenbrier Valley in West Virginia

Part of the book series: Cave and Karst Systems of the World ((CAKASYWO))

Abstract

The West Virginia cave fauna includes species that leave caves periodically to forage (cave crickets and bats) as well as permanent inhabitants (both species that are limited to caves [troglobionts] and ones that occur elsewhere [troglophiles]). Troglobionts are the best studied, but troglophiles predominate in many caves. Major sources of food for the terrestrial cave communities are transitory organic matter brought in by bats and cave crickets, and riparian deposits along streams. A total of 40 troglobionts are known, 19 of which are endemic to the Greenbrier karst. The highest species richness is in the contact caves and Buckeye Creek drainage in Greenbrier County. Greenbrier County is a hotspot of troglobionts in the USA.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20016, USA

    David C. Culver

  2. Department of Biology, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20016, USA

    Daniel W. Fong

Authors
  1. David C. Culver
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  2. Daniel W. Fong
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Correspondence to David C. Culver .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geosciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    William B. White

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 18.6.

Table 18.6 Known troglobiotic species from the Greenbrier Karst
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Culver, D.C., Fong, D.W. (2018). Terrestrial Fauna in the Greenbrier Karst . In: White, W. (eds) Caves and Karst of the Greenbrier Valley in West Virginia. Cave and Karst Systems of the World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65801-8_18

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