Cave Ecosystems - Fragility

   Recently my speleology class was covering biology of caves, and so I thought making it into my next blog post would be a good idea. In search for topics to write about, this one seemed like a logical next step, since I'm in biology as my field of study, and this is my environmentalist blog. Further, it might help some people learn some better ways to care for caves. As usual, I always encourage trying to think with the conservation ethic - namely, even if no one has said it, it should be done in a protective manner. For example, is that dinner party in the mouth of that local cave really worth damaging the fragile cave ecosystem?
   Obviously, some caves are quite sturdy and have no conservation requirements. Limited wildlife, no strange artifacts, maybe already thoroughly damaged by humans (although in that case, restoration might be in hand), or it's just an ugly rock hole. (Nothing warrants graffiti, however. I find the recent social media explosion where some person graffitied National Parks disgusting.) Other caves, however, have strange and bizarre animals and insect living within them, which are easily disrupted and damaged by humans activities. In France, there is a secret cave that contains hundreds of large, super-fragile spikes of minerals. A single touch could destroy one, and set off a chain reaction as well.
   Closer to home, everyone knows not to touch the fragile stalactites and stalagmites, sometimes much to the consternation of cave geologists. The oils on our skin coat the surface of the mineral, and the water avoids the oil stain, and no longer leaves mineral deposits in the touched areas. Needless to say, a touched cone will eventually "die" if touched enough.
   Types of animals: Troglobites (not to be confused with Star Trek's Tribbles), are animals that dwell in caves permanently. (The tribbles were space-faring grain munchers, in case you were wondering.) These are animals that have permanent adaptations for cave life, and they typically spend all of their time in the caves. These animals are typically rather bizarre, lacking in pigments as pigmentation does them no good in a no-light environment. Troglophiles are animals that may spend some of their life in the cave, and the rest out of the cave. Examples include cave crickets, small insects that use the caves for refuge, but spend other parts of the day outside. 
   Trogloxenes include everything else, and may or may not use the cave on a regular basis. Humans are examples of trogloxenes, and are particularly good at damaging the habitats of the other species that use caves for permanent habitats. It's really not that hard to disrupt caves, however. Other common ways of damaging caves, is to find one that has a nice big opening and party in it. This is apparently popular for younger people to do. Personally, I usually refrain from punching people like that. The caves can be damaged, and typically there is little that can repair the interior of a cave. Bats may be disturbed as well, and bats tend to congregate in large nunbers in small areas, which makes them particularly vulnerable. This is why we see the cave gates on some caves that are deemed fragile. 
   Some interesting cave beetles were recently studied by scientists, and they didn't have any eyes. (The beetles, not the scientists.) Oddly, however, they had the genes for eye-sight, suggesting that after long periods of cave life, the beetle may at one point have been able to see, but since natural selection had no need for eyes, they disappeared - but not entirely.

Moral of the story is, be nice to caves.

http://www.edwardsaquifer.net/faults.html - examples of cave graffiti at bottom.

http://www.batcon.org - lots of info about bats, bat conservation, and - hm - Ebola.