The consortium behind the recently started Biodiversa+ project DarCo encourages participating researchers, as well as any scientist working on the European subterranean fauna and/or its protection and conservation eager to contribute new data and ideas to the project, to submit their papers to a newly launched topical collection in the Subterranean Biology journal.
By collating openly accessible, data-driven scientific evidence, the collection and everyone involved is to prompt the inclusion of subterranean systems in European conservation plans and biodiversity goals (e.g. Habitats Directive, Water Framework Directive, Groundwater Daughter Directive, EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030).

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Read the full news: https://subtbiol.pensoft.net/news/407

Advanced course 2023/2024
Entomology: Insect diversity and decline

Registration: https://ce3c.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/training/ver.php?id=241

ABSTRACT
A variety of veterinary and human medicinal products (VHMPs) are found in groundwater, an often-neglected habitat inhabited by species with unique traits, stygobitic species. It is crucial to understand the effect of VHMPs on stygobitic species because they may respond differently to stressors than surface species. Our hypothesis is that groundwater species may be more susceptible to environmental contaminants due to less plasticity in their detoxification response and acquisition of energy because subterranean habitats are more stable and isolated from anthropogenic activities. We performed a battery of biomarkers associated with important physiological functions on the stygobitic asellid crustacean Proasellus lusitanicus, after a 14-day exposure to acetaminophen, a commonly used pharmaceutical and pollutant of groundwaters. Our results show an decrease in total glutathione levels and an increase in glutathione S-transferase activity, suggesting a successful detoxification response. This helps explaining why acetaminophen did not cause oxidative damage, as well as had no effect cholinesterase activity nor in aerobic production of energy. This study shows the remarkable capacity of P. lusitanicus to tolerate sublethal concentrations of VHMP acetaminophen. Most ecotoxicological studies on stygobitic species focused on the lethal effects of these compound. The present study focus on consequences at sublethal concentrations. Future studies should assess the stress levels induced to better predict and estimate the impacts of contaminants on groundwater ecosystems.
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Reference: Duarte C., Gravato C., Di Lorenzo T. & Reboleira A.S.P.S. (2023). Acetaminophen induced antioxidant and detoxification responses in a stygobitic crustacean. Environmental Pollution, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121749

ABSTRACT
Understanding habitat extension that limits species distribution is a crucial tool for management and conservation, in which habitat mapping plays a pivotal role. The mesovoid shallow substratum (MSS) is a type of shallow subterranean habitat with an important conservation value for invertebrate communities, functioning as climatic/reproductive refuge, biogeographic corridor and/or permanent habitat. Methodologies to map the mesovoid shallow substratum (MSS) are currently lacking. We propose a novel method for colluvial MSS habitat mapping, combining geographic information systems, geological maps, and geological knowledge on the habitat genesis. We tested and validated the efficiency of the method using the Arrábida karst area (Portugal) as a model. The method allowed the remote detection of MSS habitats suitable for invertebrate communities ex situ within the study area, and enabled the estimation of habitat extent. The faunal communities sampled in the selected location were dominated by arthropods, especially insects, showcasing the efficacy of this mapping method to detect suitable MSShabitats. The use of this method considerably reduces the in situ scouting area, providing a more efficient way of locating these habitats. The MSS is protected under EU legislation concerning floral communities and geological features, completely neglecting its faunal communities. This method also allows to estimate potential MSS habitat extension in several lithologies, facilitating the implementation of invertebrate prospections, and the establishment of more effective conservation measures.

References: Eusébio R., Fonseca P.E., Rebelo, R., Mathias M.L. & Reboleira A.S.P.S. ​(2023). How to map potential mesovoid shallow substratum (MSS) habitats? A case study in colluvial MSS. Subterranean Biology, 45: 141-156. https://doi.org/10.3897/subtbiol.45.96332

ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the physiological tolerance of groundwater species to human-induced stress, encompassing temperature changes, chemical and other environmental contamination, and changes in environmental conditions in a laboratory setting. The chapter consists of three sections, each comprising a small introductory paragraph, a discussion on the main specific aspects of tolerance, and a conclusive paragraph, wrapping up key points and providing future prospects. In Section 1, entitled “Physiological tolerance of groundwater organisms to changing thermal conditions”, we highlighted that the effects of global warming on groundwater animals might be more severe than expected, especially in areas where global warming is superimposed by additional temperature elevations due to urban groundwater heat-ups. In Section 2, entitled “Physiological tolerance of groundwater organisms to chemical stress”, our overview of the available studies highlights that the ecological risk assessment in groundwater is currently poorly realistic because it is based on the tolerance of surface water species that do not possess any of the distinctive traits of the true inhabitants of these environments. In Section 3, entitled “Physiological tolerance of groundwater organisms to light, food, and oxygen variations: indications for ecotoxicological protocols”, we pointed out that the standard ecotoxicological protocols issued for surface water species are not directly applicable to groundwater organisms but require adjustments. We concluded the chapter by suggesting that several further investigations are necessary to make sound predictions on the future distribution of groundwater organisms according to the expected scenarios of climate change, groundwater heat-ups, chemical contamination, and ecological risk.

Reference: Di Lorenzo T., Avramov M., Galassi D.M.P., Iepure S., Mammola S., Reboleira A.S.P.S. & Hervant F. (2023). Physiological tolerance and ecotoxicological constraints of groundwater fauna. pp. 457-479. In: Malard F., Griebler C. & Rétaux S. (Eds.), Groundwater Ecology and Evolution. Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819119-4.15004-8

ABSTRACT
The concept of ecosystem health is now widely used to communicate the status or condition of a natural environment and is embedded in environmental policies globally. The concept has underpinned ecological assessments for decades but has only recently been applied to groundwater ecosystems. The aim of this chapter was to provide a critical review of current methods for monitoring and assessing the health of groundwater ecosystems, and a discussion of future directions to progress the understanding of ecosystem health, and the provision of ecosystem services in groundwaters.
The assessment of ecosystem health is frequently based on the measurement of a suite of indicators at a site, which should reflect the organization and function of the ecosystem, and the presence of stressors as an early warning indicator. For groundwaters, this should include characterization of biotic (microbial, invertebrate and vertebrate) and abiotic parameters, and specifically include the provision of functions that provide ecosystem services. A number of indicators and approaches have been developed for assessing the health of groundwater ecosystems. These include methods in the fields of community ecology, functional ecology, and ecotoxicology and recently integrated molecular approaches. A holistic approach is needed for managing groundwater ecosystems, and the same should be applied to monitoring ecosystem health. Approaches should be based on sound science, engagement with stakeholders, and consider the interconnected nature of groundwater and surface waters, with the goal to preserve the unique subterranean biodiversity.
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Reference: Hose G.C., Di Lorenzo T., Fillinger L., Galassi D.M.P., Griebler C., Hahn H.J., Handley K.M., Korbel K., Reboleira A.S.P.S., Siemensmeyer T., Spengler C., Weaver L. & Weigand A. (2023). Assessing groundwater ecosystem health, status and services. pp. 501-524. In: Malard F., Griebler C. & Rétaux S. (Eds.), Groundwater Ecology and Evolution. Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819119-4.00022-6

ABSTRACT
Metabolic rate has long been used in animal adaptation and performance studies, and individual oxygen consumption is used as proxy of metabolic rate. Stygofauna are organisms adapted to groundwater with presumably lower metabolic rates than their surface relatives. How stygofauna will cope with global temperature increase remains unpredictable. We studied the thermal acclimation and metabolic scaling with body mass of a stygobitic crustacean, Proasellus lusitanicus, in the climate change scenario. We measured oxygen consumption rates in a thermal ramp-up experiment over four assay temperatures and tested two hypotheses: (i) P. lusitanicus exhibits narrow thermal plasticity, inadequate for coping with a fast-increasing thermal regime; and (ii) oxygen consumption rates scale with the body mass by a factor close to 0.75, as commonly observed in other animals. Our results show that P. lusitanicus has low thermal plasticity in a fast-increasing thermal regime. Our data also suggest that oxygen consumption rates of this species do not follow mass-dependent scaling, potentially representing a new trait of metabolic optimization in groundwater habitats, which are often limited in food and oxygen. Species with limited dispersal capacities and rigid metabolic guilds face extinction risk due to climate change and omitting groundwater ecosystems from climate change agendas emphasizes the unprotected status of stygofauna.

Reference: Di Lorenzo T. & Reboleira A.S.P.S. (2022). Thermal acclimation and metabolic scaling of a groundwater asellid in the climate change scenario. Scientific Reports. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-20891-4

ABSTRACT
​Subarctic regions are particularly vulnerable to climate change, yet little is known about nutrient availability and biodiversity of their cave ecosystems. Such knowledge is crucial for predicting the vulnerability of these ecosystems to consequences of climate change. Thus, to improve our understanding of life in these habitats, we characterized environmental variables, as well as bacterial and invertebrate communities of six subarctic caves in Northern Norway. Only a minuscule diversity of surface-adapted invertebrates were found in these caves. However, the bacterial communities in caves were compositionally different, more diverse and more complex than the nutrient-richer surface soil. Cave soil microbiomes were less variable between caves than between surface communities in the same area, suggesting that the stable cave environments with tougher conditions drive the uniform microbial communities. We also observed only a small proportion of cave bacterial genera originating from the surface, indicating unique cave-adapted microbial communities. Increased diversity within caves may stem from higher niche specialization and levels of interdependencies for nutrient cycling among bacterial taxa in these oligotrophic environments. Taken together this suggest that environmental changes, e.g., faster melting of snow as a result of global warming that could alter nutrient influx, can have a detrimental impact on interactions and dependencies of these complex communities. This comparative exploration of cave and surface microbiomes also lays the foundation to further investigate the long-term environmental variables that shape the biodiversity of these vulnerable ecosystems.
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Reference: Reboleira A.S.P.S., Bodawatta K.H., Ravn N., Lauritzen S.E., Øvrevik Skoglund R., Thomas-Poulsen M., Michelsen A., Jønsson K.A. (2022). Nutrient-limited subarctic caves harbour more diverse and complex bacterial communities than their surface soil. Environmental Microbiome, 17, 41. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40793-022-00435-z

ASBTRACT
Groundwater comprises the largest freshwater ecosystem on the planet. It has a distinct regime of extreme, yet stable environmental conditions that have favoured the development of similar morphological and functional traits in the resident invertebrate fauna (stygofauna).
The analysis of community traits is increasingly used as an alternative to taxonomy-based assessments of biodiversity, especially for monitoring ecosystem status and linking the functions of organisms to ecological processes, yet it has been rarely applied to stygofauna and groundwater ecosystems.
In this paper, we review the variation in functional traits among the invertebrate fauna of this important ecosystem. We focus on the stygofauna and processes of alluvium and fractured rock aquifers that are typified by small voids and fissures that constrain the habitats and environmental conditions.
As a first step, we compare trait variability between groundwater and surface water invertebrate communities and then examine the significance of the ranges of these traits to the vulnerability of the ecosystem to change.
Fifteen potentially useful functional traits are recognised, with ten of these having narrower ranges (i.e., exhibiting fewer states, or attributes, of a particular trait) in groundwater than they do in surface water.
Our synthesis suggests that the relative stability of groundwater environments has led to low trait variability. The low biomass and low reproductive rate of stygofauna suggest that recovery potential following disturbance is likely to be low.
For the purposes of both improved understanding and effective management, further work is needed to document additional functional traits and their states in groundwater fauna, enabling a better understanding of the relationship between response and effect traits in these ecosystems.
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Reference: Hose et al. (2022). Invertebrate traits, diversity and the vulnerability of groundwater ecosystems. Functional Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14125