Abstract
Author(s): Bruno, Maria Cristina; Cottarelli, Vezio; Grasso, Rosario; Latella, Leonardo; Zaupa, Silvia; Spena, Maria Teresa | Abstract: The epikarst crustacean fauna from four Sicilian caves (Conza, Entella, Molara, and Zubbia del Cavallo caves) and four caves in the Lessinian Massif in the Venetian Prealps (Covolo della Croce, Ponte di Veja, Rovere Mille, Buso della Rana caves) was recently investigated. The two groups of caves differ in their environmental conditions: the Sicilian caves are fossil except one which has an active branch; they are all fed by strongly intermittent and scarce rainfall peaking in the fall. The Lessinian caves are fed by more abundant rainfall, with two yearly peaks (May-June and October-November); two of them are active, one has a temporary stream, one is fossil. The crustacean fauna found in the epikarst drip of each of the studied caves is characterized by interesting endemic harpacticoid and cyclopoid copepods, and one bathynellacean syncarid, often collected in only one cave. Higher diversity of stygobiotic taxa was recorded for the Lessinian caves (9 species of copepods in the Lessinian, and 6 species of copepods and one bathynellacean in Sicily); most of the taxa collected in Sicily are endemic to one cave. Spatial analysis showed very different distributions over short spatial scales (tens of kilometers) and, within each cave, the distribution also varied over distances of a few meters. Our data correspond with other studies where many epikarst crustaceans showed a distribution with a linear extent of only a few hundred meters: the epikarst fauna is not uniformly distributed but rather divided in “blocks” probably characterized by different environmental conditions and, as a consequence, by different taxocoenoses. The data highlight the epikarst as a source of “hidden” biodiversity, and the importance of management protection plans which include not only the caves, but also the epikarst overlying layer and the water sources that feed it.
Highlights
The epikarst is the topmost part of the vadose zone of karst and represents a boundary zone between the superficial unconsolidated material and the karstic habitats
Speocyclops italicus is endemic to Italy; this species was first described by Kiefer (1938) from Castelcivita Cave (Salerno Province, southern Italy) but it is widely distributed in central and southern Italy in several groundwater habitats, in caves, according to Stoch (2005), S. italicus is mainly present in percolating water
In Molara Cave, collections were conducted on a monthly basis for one year: even if this cave is close to the previous one and with a comparable epikarst thickness (15-20 m), the direct collection of drips resulted in a high number of individuals belonging to Stammericaris destillans Bruno and Cottarelli 2017 (425 individuals in pools, 318 in drips, i.e., 2302 and 32919 ind L-1, respectively) a species recently described and endemic to the cave (Bruno et al 2017)
Summary
The epikarst is the topmost part of the vadose zone of karst and represents a boundary zone between the superficial unconsolidated material and the karstic habitats. The epikarst is extremely heterogeneous, with numerous cracks and crevices, and semiisolated solution pockets (Bakalowicz 2004, Williams 2008). This mosaic of microhabitats hosts a variety of taxa, including a rich array of small crustaceans (Brancelj and Culver 2005, Pipan 2005), resulting in a diversity often rivalling the diversity of the rest of the karstic aquifer (Pipan and Brancelj 2004, Brancelj and Culver, 2005). On a larger scale (different watersheds) historical events (colonization of epikarst habitats by surface-dwelling ancestors) and the hydrological and geological setting (isolation of aquifers) probably interact to determine gamma diversity
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