engleski

Monitoring of cave habitats and fauna: a case study from Croatia

A two-year research projects in the Krka National Park and Paklenica National Park were conducted aiming to test different methods for cave habitats and fauna monitoring in order to develop monitoring protocols for different species, show caves and cave habitats. Altogether, we investigated 16 caves and 28 target species from the following taxa: Serpulidae, Araneae, Isopoda, Amphipoda, Decapoda, Diplopoda, Chilopoda, Collembola, Diplura and Coleoptera. Here, we will present the results from the monitoring of fauna in three caves from the Krka National Park (Stara jametina, Miljacka II and show cave Oziđana špilja), and the show cave Manita peć in Paklenica National Park. We used two different methods: (1) invertebrate census of the whole cave (in Oziđana špilja), and (2) invertebrate census on plots (in Stara jametina and Miljacka II). The first method is suitable for small caves. For this method, it is best to divide the cave into 3-5 zones and conduct a “minimum- time census”, with a predefined number of people and the amount of time per zone. The second method is applicable for large caves. Again, it is necessary to define the number of people and the amount of counting time per plot. In Manita peć, we combined these two methods: the cave was divided into three zones and plots per zone (in triplicates) were established. With this approach, we were able to collect quantitative data sets and estimate the total abundance of the fauna as well as the abundance of individual taxa. Furthermore, this monitoring scheme is replicative and suitable for long-term monitoring of both fauna and cave habitats. A detailed species inventory of the investigated cave and the trained researchers that can identify species on sight, without collecting them, are crucial prerequisites for the successful implementation of the abovementioned methods.

monitoring ; cave habitats

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