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Subterranean Biodiversity in Ferruginous Landscapes

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Cave Ecology

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 235))

Abstract

The iron ore formations and their caves are among the most unknown ecosystems in the world. These formations of Cambrian rocks cover at least 5% of the Earth’s surface and occur in spots distributed mainly in Brazil, Australia, India, and South Africa. In Brazil, the two largest ferruginous formations, Carajás and Iron Quadrangle, present distinct speleological, ecological, and biological traits. However, the caves share some features, such as their advanced age, occurrence relatively close to the surface, and their connection to several small-interconnected voids in the canga formation. The ecological and evolutionary importance of the ferruginous voids is expressed in the great diversity of fauna they harbor, including relict and endemic species, many of them troglobites. In addition, the underground biodiversity in these ecosystems is greater than that observed in other lithologies in Brazil. However, despite this uniqueness, these ecosystems have been threatened by anthropic activities of mineral exploration and urban expansion, requiring studies and emergency conservation actions.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Ana Clara Moreira Viana for producing the figure regarding the schematic profile of the ferruginous habitats. We are also thankful to the whole team of the Center of Studies on Subterranean Biology from the Federal University of Lavras for their assistance in several field works in ferrugineous caves. We are finally grateful to all institutions that supported distinct research projects regarding ferrugineous cave fauna, providing funds, scholarships, and infrastructure (CNPq—Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnológico; FAPEMIG—Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais; CAPES—Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior; CECAV—Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação de Cavernas; UFLA—Universidade Federal de Lavras and VALE company).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Estudos em Biologia Subterrânea, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, Brazil

    Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira & Marconi Souza Silva

  2. Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia Aplicada, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, Brazil

    Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira & Marcus Paulo Alves de Oliveira

Authors
  1. Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira
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  2. Marcus Paulo Alves de Oliveira
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  3. Marconi Souza Silva
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Emil Racovitza Institute of Speleology, Romanian Academy, Cluj Napoca, Romania

    Oana Teodora Moldovan

  2. Faculty of Science, P. J. Šafárik University, Košice, Slovakia

    Ľubomír Kováč

  3. Bennelongia Environmental Consultants, Jolimont, Western Australia, Australia

    Stuart Halse

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Ferreira, R.L., de Oliveira, M.P.A., Silva, M.S. (2018). Subterranean Biodiversity in Ferruginous Landscapes. In: Moldovan, O., Kováč, Ľ., Halse, S. (eds) Cave Ecology. Ecological Studies, vol 235. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98852-8_21

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