Elevated Carbon Dioxide Levels in Bayliss Cave, Australia: Implications for the Evolution of Obligate Cave Species
Elevated Carbon Dioxide Levels in Bayliss Cave, Australia: Implications for the Evolution of Obligate Cave Species
Date
1990-07
Authors
Howarth, Francis G.
Stone, Fred D.
Journal Title
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Volume Title
Publisher
University of Hawaii Press
Abstract
In May and June 1985, the deeper passages of Bayliss Cave,
North Queensland, Australia, contained up to 200 times the ambient atmospheric
level of carbon dioxide and a water-saturated atmosphere, yet supported
the most diverse community of highly modified, obligate, terrestrial cave species
yet known. The obligate and facultative cave species were mostly segregated
by the environment, with the 24 obligate cave-adapted species being largely
restricted to the "bad-air" zone. The discovery of this previously unknown
"bad-air," obligate cave community corroborates other behavioral and distributional
studies that suggest that cave-adapted animals are specialized to exploit
resources within the smaller underground 'voids, where fluctuating carbon
dioxide concentrations are theoretically intolerable to most surface and facultative
cave species.
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Citation
Howarth FG, Stone FD. 1990. Elevated carbon dioxide levels in Bayliss Cave, Australia: implications for the evolution of obligate cave species. Pac Sci 44(3): 207-218.
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