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Microbial Diversity of Cave Ecosystems

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Geomicrobiology: Molecular and Environmental Perspective

Abstract

The formation of natural caves (speleogenesis) is due to any number of processes that result in the hollowing out of rock, including dissolution, mechanical weathering, volcanic activity, or even the melting of glacial ice. Caves are classified based on the solid rock that they developed within, the proximity to the groundwater table (e.g., above, at, or below it), the speleogenetic history of a feature, and the overall passage morphology and organization (e.g., cave length, passage shape, passage arrangement, passage levels) (Fig. 10.1). Caves are one type of feature that characterizes a karst landscape, which develops in soluble rocks (e.g., limestone, dolomite, gypsum, halite) that roughly coincides with the global distribution of carbonate sedimentary rocks of all geologic ages (e.g., Ford and Williams 2007). Although karst comprises ∼15–20% of the Earth’s ice-free land surface, karst caves are not interconnected, not within the same hydrological drainage basin and definitely not across different drainage basins.

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Acknowledgements

I appreciate the stimulating conversations and ideas to improve this review that came from M.L. Porter, J. Mulec, and N. Lee. Support for this review was provided by the United States National Science Foundation (DEB-0640835), the Louisiana Board of Regents (LEQSF [2006-09]-RD-A-03 and NSF/LEQSF(2005)-Pfund-04), and Louisiana State University.

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  1. Department of Geology & Geophysics, Louisiana State University, E235 Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70803, USA

    Annette Summers Engel

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  1. Dept. Biology, University of New Mexico, Castetter Hall 167, Albuquerque, 87131-0001, USA

    Larry L. Barton

  2. , Faculty of Science, Dept. of Biochmistry, Masaryk University, Kortlarska 2, Brno, 611 37, Czech Republic

    Martin Mandl

  3. , Department of Microbial Ecology, Fac. of, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, Vienna, A-1090, Austria

    Alexander Loy

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Engel, A.S. (2010). Microbial Diversity of Cave Ecosystems. In: Barton, L., Mandl, M., Loy, A. (eds) Geomicrobiology: Molecular and Environmental Perspective. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9204-5_10

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