Airborne Fungi in Show Caves from Southern Spain

Irene Dominguez-Moñino,Valme Jurado,Cesareo Saiz-Jimenez,Miguel Angel Rogerio-Candelera,Bernardo Hermosin

doi:10.3390/app11115027

Irene Dominguez-Moñino, Valme Jurado + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/app11115027

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Abstract

The aerobiology of caves in Southern Spain possesses special characteristics, different from caves located in Northern Spain. Previous studies demonstrated the influence of outdoor air on caves in the north and the existence of two different patterns, depending on the season. In summer there is an abundance of Ascomycota, whereas in winter Basidiomycota predominates, which are related to the periods of stagnation and ventilation, respectively. In caves in Southern Spain the presence of airborne Basidiomycota is scarce and Ascomycota represents the main group of fungi widely distributed across the caves in all seasons. The most characteristic features were the abundant presence of entomopathogenic fungi (Beauveria bassiana, Parengyodontium album, Pochonia chlamydosporia, Leptobacillium symbioticum, Leptobacillium leptobactrum) and Cladosporium cladosporioides in Cueva del Tesoro, Cueva de Ardales and Gruta de las Maravillas. However, the presence of yeasts of the genera Cutaneotrichosporon, Trichosporon, Cryptococcus, Naganishia, Cystobasidium, Microstroma and Phragmotaenium was exclusive to Gruta de las Maravillas. Fungal hazard in the three show caves were determined using an ecological indicator based on the concentration of spores in cave air.

Highlights

The study of the behavior of airborne fungi in caves is of interest because many caves contain Paleolithic paintings that should be protected from fungal outbreaks
Cueva de Ardales was the cave that was less contaminated by airborne fungi, which is in agreement with the topography and number of visitors
The most contaminated cave is Cueva del Tesoro, that has a medium number of visitors, but two factors contributed to this pollution, the small volume of galleries and rooms and the abundance of phototrophic biofilms along the cave, induced by the artificial lighting (Figure 3)

Summary

Introduction

The study of the behavior of airborne fungi in caves is of interest because many caves contain Paleolithic paintings that should be protected from fungal outbreaks. Fungal outbreaks were noticed in a number of caves, of which Lascaux and Castañar de Ibor caves were noteworthy [1,2]. Caneva et al [5] recognized that preventive conservation of cultural heritage includes aerobiological analysis in order to assess biological risk and propose strategies aimed at controlling biodeterioration. Aerobiology has proved to be a suitable approach for studying the dispersion of airborne fungi in caves [6,7,8,9]. Fungal spores represent a potential risk to the conservation of cultural heritage since, in favorable cave environmental conditions (high relative humidity, stable temperature, nutrient inputs, etc.), fungi colonize speleothems and other mineral substrata in addition to the cadavers of animals and arthropods populating the cavity [2,10]

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Discussion

Conclusion