Since the dawn of time, the dark and mysterious world of caves never fails to provoke the imagination. For many ancient civilizations caves were the place of worship and ceremonial rites, with cave art in France dating back at least 32,000 years.Whilst caves and their mystifying contents have been studied intensely by archaeologists for many years, few of the world’s caves have been studied at an ecosystem level. Until now, that is.
A wave of geological interest has been sparked in the caves of western New Mexico and northern Arizona since the exciting findings that completely unique life forms reside in this dark, damp and craggy underground world.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Bureau of Land Management, together with the National Park Service, scientists from the USGS and Northern Arizona University, has initiated a drive to study the caves of the southern Colorado Plateau and the Four Corners region of the south-western United States.
The ongoing research has made an exciting discovery, the identification of completely unique forms of insects, arachnids and crustaceans, which include three new groups of species and at least 15 new species.
These discoveries are unraveling information for scientists and ecologists to gain a better understanding of cave ecosystems and how to protect fragile biodiversity and ecological systems.
As the American southwest is widely acknowledged as being a desert region, it is easy to gage why this mysterious underground world has been overlooked as being a place that houses rare earth life forms.
In reality, as scientists have recently uncovered, any life forms living in this extreme environment that is completely isolated from vegetation and light are inherently starved of nutrients and rely on what is being seeped from the cave’s surface to support any life. (1)
The caves that lie under the deserts of the American southwest provide a particularly harsh environment as not only are they void of nutrients, but, as the USGS states, they are also scarce of water. Whilst research into such extreme ecological climates and systems are in their infancy, it seems that some life forms can actually breed and flourish in the dark, nutrition and water-deprived caves of south-western America.
The Environment’s Impact on Cave Creatures
Although the ongoing research and findings of new forms of life are certainly exciting, it is concerning that cave ecosystems are extremely fragile.These fragile natural environments can be significantly disrupted and disturbed by humans entering the cave and interfering with the system. As creatures have adapted to the environment of a cave over millions of years, some researchers fear that global warming will have a negative impact on troglobite communities.
As Curiosity Discovery.com states:
“Many troglobites will not be able to adapt quick enough to rising global temperatures and will be wiped out.” (2)In fact, so fragile have cave ecosystems become that, in 1988, the U.S. government launched the Federal Cave Resources Protection Act, which declares that:
“Significant caves on Federal lands are an invaluable and irreplaceable part of the nation’s natural landscape.”The aims of the Act are to, “secure, protect and preserve significant cave on federal lands for the perpetual use, enjoyment and benefit of all people.” (3)
In the late 1980s, LexisNexis reported that there were approximately 40,000 caves in the United States, a significant proportion being on federal lands. (4)
While all caves hold unique ecosystems that nurture certain forms of life, it is positive to hear about the new findings of life in America’s southwest. These findings will undoubtedly prove valuable in expanding the body of knowledge about cave ecosystems and how to conserve such delicate and precious natural systems.
References & Image Credits:
(1) USGS
(2) Curiosity Discovery
(3) Caves.org
(4) Lexis Nexis
(5) JohannesLundberg via photopin cc
(6) David J. Thomas via photopin cc
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