Lighting Effects on the Development and Diversity of Photosynthetic Biofilm Communities in Carlsbad Cavern, New Mexico.

ABSTRACT: Photosynthetic cave communities ("lampenflora") proliferate in Carlsbad Cavern and other show caves worldwide due to artificial lighting. These biofilms mar the esthetics and can degrade underlying cave surfaces. The National Park Service recently modernized the lighting in Carlsbad Cavern to a light-emitting diode (LED) system that allows adjustment of the color temperature and intensity. We hypothesized that lowering the color temperature would reduce photopigment development. We therefore assessed lampenflora responses to changes in lighting by monitoring photosynthetic communities over the course of a year. We measured photopigments using reflected-light spectrophotometric observations and analyzed microbial community composition with 16S and 18S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Reflecte

SUBMITTER: Havlena Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8105000 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature