Subterranean Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics
Summary
Subterranean environments, encompassing caves, aquifers and fissure networks, harbour a remarkable array of specialised organisms that have adapted to life in permanent darkness, limited resources and stable yet often extreme physicochemical conditions. Biodiversity in these hypogean habitats ranges from microbes and invertebrates to vertebrates, many of which exhibit morphological and behavioural traits unique to underground life. Key ecosystem processes include decomposition of allochthonous organic matter, nutrient cycling mediated by detritivores and microbial communities, and complex food-web interactions often driven by keystone species such as bats or aquatic crustaceans. Subterranean systems provide essential ecosystem services, including groundwater purification, refuge for endemic taxa and palaeoclimatic archives. However, they face mounting threats from surface land-use change, pollution, mining, hydrological alterations and climate change. Recent research emphasises multiscale linkages between surface and subsurface realms, the importance of microclimatic buffering in caves, and the urgent need to integrate subterranean biodiversity into conservation planning and environmental management.
Research from Nature Portfolio
Studies have characterised cave thermal regimes across diverse climatic regions, revealing three principal patterns of temperature response relative to the surface: strong synchrony, delayed buffering and inverse coupling. Daily thermal cycles detected in some caves suggest potential entrainment of circadian rhythms in subterranean fauna, while overall reduced thermal amplitude confirms caves as refugia against extreme surface fluctuations. Nevertheless, projected increases in surface temperatures are anticipated to propagate underground, threatening specialised species with narrow thermal tolerances and imperilling ecosystem services linked to groundwater quality and nutrient retention.
Subterranean Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in subterranean biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Troglobite: An obligate cave-dwelling organism that completes its life cycle entirely underground.
Stygobiont: A strictly aquatic organism adapted to life in groundwater or subterranean water bodies.
Karst: A landscape underlain by soluble rock (typically limestone) characterised by caves, sinkholes and underground drainage.
Hypogean: Pertaining to the subsurface environment, including caves and aquifers, as opposed to epigean (surface) habitats.
References
- A global meta-analysis reveals multilevel and context-dependent effects of climate change on subterranean ecosystems. One Earth (2023).
- Effective conservation of subterranean‐roosting bats. Conservation Biology (2023).
- An expert-based global assessment of threats and conservation measures for subterranean ecosystems. Biological Conservation (2023).
- Temperature variation in caves and its significance for subterranean ecosystems. Scientific Reports (2023).
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