Abstract
Groundwater systems, traditionally considered lifeless conduits of water (Hancock and Boulton 2008, Schulz et al. 2013), are now known to provide critical habitat for a diverse range of fauna collectively called stygofauna. Stygofauna communities can have significant conservation value as exemplified by rela tively high levels of endemism and biodiversity. Despite this the biogeography and taxonomic diversity of stygofauna communities largely remains undocumented. This paper describes the development and interrogation of a statewide database of 755 samples from 582 sites, and reviews the current knowledge of stygofauna biodiversity and biogeography across Queensland (northeastern Australia). Queensland is known to host 24 described families of stygofauna with stygofauna composition broadly consistent with other regions around the world. However Queensland assemblages tend to be unusually rich in both oligochaetes (16% cf. 2%) and syncarids (12% cf. 4%). Associations between stygofauna taxonomic richness and key environmental variables were consistent with many general as sumptions of habitat suitability. However there were also notable exceptions, including stygofauna records from: groundwater 60 meters below ground level; groundwater with electrical conductivity above 50,000 μS/cm, and; both highly acidic (pH 3.5) and alkaline (pH 10.3) environments. These exceptions clearly demonstrate that strict adherence to general assumptions about habitat suitability when planning sam pling activities may mask the true diversity of groundwater ecosystems.
Highlights
Ecological and microbiological exploration of groundwater over the past two decades has identified a diverse range of organisms inhabiting groundwater systems, collectively called stygofauna (Danielopol et al 2003, Boulton et al 2008, Schulz et al 2013)
Habitats created by groundwater systems are generally geographically restrictive (Eberhard et al 2005, Majer 2009) and relatively stable across geological time (Humphreys 2006a), contributing to the typically narrow distributions (Asmyhr et al 2014), high endemism (Cooper et al 2002, Eberhard et al 2005, Humphreys 2006b, Majer 2009, Asmyhr et al 2014), and high diversity (Eberhard et al 2005, Majer 2009) of stygofauna communities
While sampling data are scarce or absent for many lithologies, the results suggest that groundwater systems cannot be eliminated as potential habitat for stygofauna based solely on geology or lithology
Summary
Ecological and microbiological exploration of groundwater over the past two decades has identified a diverse range of organisms inhabiting groundwater systems, collectively called stygofauna (Danielopol et al 2003, Boulton et al 2008, Schulz et al 2013). The major pressures on groundwater systems in Australia, as elsewhere, are from anthropogenic activities that modify aspects of the groundwater regime, including flow, flux, pressure, level and quality (Danielopol et al 2003, Eamus et al 2006), and the transport of nutrients and organic matter (Menció et al 2014) Activities such as agriculture, industrial production and domestic water supply result in a depletion in groundwater quantity and may introduce pollutants that impact groundwater quality (Danielopol et al 2003), potentially altering ecosystem function (Danielopol et al 2003) and driving changes in stygofauna distribution and composition (Menció et al 2014). The pressures on groundwater ecosystems are cumulative (Danielopol et al 2003) and their impacts may be observed earlier in more vulnerable groundwater eco systems such as stygofauna communities of the hyporheic zone or in shallow, dynamic groundwater systems (Hancock 2002, Nwankwoala 2012)
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