Temperature variation in caves and its significance for subterranean ecosystems.

ABSTRACT: Climate change affects all ecosystems, but subterranean ecosystems are repeatedly neglected from political and public agendas. Cave habitats are home to unknown and endangered species, with low trait variability and intrinsic vulnerability to recover from human-induced disturbances. We studied the annual variability and cyclicity of temperatures in caves vis-à-vis surface in different climatic areas. We hypothesize that cave temperatures follow the average temperature pattern at the surface for each location with a slight delay in the signal, but we found three different thermal patterns occurring in caves: (1) high positive correlation and a similar thermal pattern to the surface, (2) low correlation and a slight thermal delay of the signal from the surface, and (3) high negative correlat

SUBMITTER: Medina MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10676404 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature