The Biology of Caves and Other Subterranean Habitats

By D. Culver, T. Pipan. 2009

754 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Caves and other subterranean habitats with their often strange (even bizarre) inhabitants have long been objects of fascination, curiosity, and debate. The question of how such organisms have evolved, and the relative roles of natural selection and genetic drift, has engaged subterranean biologists for decades. Indeed, these studies continue to inform the general theory of adaptation and evolution. Subterranean ecosystems generally exhibit little or no primary productivity and, as extreme ecosystems, provide general insights into ecosystem function. The Biology of Caves and other Subterranean Habitats offers a concise but comprehensive introduction to cave ecology and evolution. Whilst there is an emphasis on biological processes occurring in these unique environments, conservation and management aspects are also considered. The monograph includes a global range of examples from more than 25 countries, and case studies from both caves and non-cave subterranean habitats; it also provides a clear explanation of specialized terms used by speleologists. This accessible text will appeal to researchers new to the field and to the many professional ecologists and conservation practitioners requiring a concise but authoritative overview. Its engaging style will also make it suitable for undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in cave and subterranean biology. Its more than 650 references, 150 of which are new since the first edition, provide many entry points to the research literature.

Subfields: Ecology, Molecular Biology, Paleontology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/14f2ae775028b5c9a2cf45c5e00cc10ca5b58ea9

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Citations in the corpus

Climate change may drive cave spiders to extinction (2018, background): “Interpreting the effects of past climate change Two contrasting theories attempt to explain the origin and the distribution of the subterranean fauna (Culver and Pipan 2009, 2010).”
Do cave features affect underground habitat exploitation by non-troglobite species? (2014, background): “Most of studies on the biology and ecology of subterranean environments focus on troglobitic species (Culver and Pipan, 2009), while troglophiles or trogloxenes species occurring in caves are less studied.”
PCA – A Powerful Method for Analyze Ecological Niches (2012, background): “…in highly endemic troglomorphic species–i.e., those well adapted to the hypogean habitat (e.g., Gibert and Deharveng 2002, Christman et al., 2005, Culver and Pipan 2009)–the community disconception might have little or no significant impact on the findings under…”
Sensory Adaptations of Fishes to Subterranean Environments (2013, positive): “Subterranean habitats are generally categorized into one of three main types: cave habitats, interstitial habitats, and superficial sub terranean habitats (seeps, talus slopes, and small cavities in the uppermost areas of karst rocks; Culver and Pipan 2009).”
Partitioning taxon, phylogenetic and functional beta diversity into replacement and richness difference components (2014, background): “For example, caves are occupied by taxa that have pre-adaptations to the particular biotic and abiotic conditions that exist in the subterranean realm (Culver & Pipan, 2009), probably causing higher Fbrich than expected from the corresponding Tbrich values.”