Biospeleology of the Lagoa Santa Karst

Abstract

The region of Lagoa Santa stands out as the cradle of studies on epigean and subterranean ecology in Brazil. The subterranean habitats in the Lagoa Santa Karst area are structurally and biologically diverse, especially due to the wide variety of macro and microhabitats and food resources availability for the fauna. The observed biodiversity is a consequence of the distinct conditions of isolation, atmospheric stability, food availability, and the presence of dry and wet subterranean habitats. In terms of obligate cave fauna, the Lagoa Santa karst tends to present a moderate richness in absolute numbers (41 spp.) but low richness in relative terms (0.48 species per cave). However, such numbers were counted from inventories conducted in approximately 80 out of the 900 caves, so that many other species may still be discovered. The four described troglobites are Brasilomma enigmatica, Tisentnops onix, Charinus taboa, and Spelunconiscus castroi, but 37 other sampled troglomorphic species are still not described. Moreover, there are many human activities causing impacts to the Lagoa Santa Karst, which come from agriculture, cattle ranching, water exploitation, urbanization, deforestation, industries, mining, road construction, etc. The urgency for conservation actions is evident since studies on the population size and ecology of cave fauna are incipient and the low number of conservation units has led these species to an extreme degree of vulnerability and threats. In this perspective, the intensification of biological studies in caves of the Lagoa Santa karst is highly recommended to avoid species loss.