Exploring Lampenflora of Resavska Cave, Serbia

Abstract

Lampenflora, a complex phototrophic community that develops near artificial light in show caves, is recognized as a major concern for cave management and its regular monitoring has become necessity. For the purpose of this work, the monitoring was performed in one of the most visited show caves in Serbia—Resavska Cave, directly before and after the main season in 2021 in March and November. Lampenflora was localized and developed mainly near the artificial light, but further parts of the cave were not affected by it. Different sampling sites (twelve in total) regarding the type of artificial light and the type of biofilm were chosen for the lampenflora sampling. Two biofilm types were recognized in situ: the epilithic/endolithic ones which were dominated by algae and/or Cyanobacteria and the moss-dominated biofilms. An analysis of the phototrophic microorganisms revealed the presence of Cyanobacteria, Chlorophyta and Bacillariophyta. The highest diversity was found among the Cyanobacteria where the genera Aphanocapsa, Eucapsis, Gloeocapsa and Leptolyngbya were recorded during both of the samplings, Nostoc and Synechocystis were recorded in March, while Hassalia, Oscillatoria and Pseudocapsa were only recorded in November. Chlorophyta were represented by Chlorella, Desmococcus, Klebsormidium, Mesotaenium and Stichococcus in March, and they were represented by same taxa except for Klebsormidium in November. Humidophila was the most widespread diatom in the fresh biofilm samples. Aside from there being higher a level of diversity of it, Cyanobacteria were sporadically found in the samples except on two sampling sites where Aphanocapsa cf. muscicola and Hassalia sp. were abundant. Chlorophyta dominated the samples, which is in accordance with many other studies. The ecological parameters—temperature, relative air humidity, light intensity, substratum moisture and substratum pH were also determined and related to a degree of colonization and the community composition.

Keywords

• show cave
• lampenflora
• cyanobacteria and algae