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Carpathian Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences

An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal

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ARTICLE IN » Volume 13, 2018 - Number 2

THE INFLUENCE OF GEOLOGICAL SUBSTRATE ON THE FAUNAL STRUCTURE OF THE SUPERFICIAL SUBTERRANEAN HABITATS



Eugen NITZU1, Magdalin Leonard DOROBĂŢ2, Ionuț POPA1, Andrei GIURGINCA1 & Ştefan BABA1
1Biospeleology and Soil Biology Department, “Emile Racovitza” Institute of Speleology of the Romanian Academy, E-mail: eunitu@yahoo.com, ionut.popa@iser.ro, sankao2@yahoo.com, cata_stef92@yahoo.com
2Natural Sciences Department, Faculty of Sciences, Physical Education and Informatics, University of Pitesti. (Correspondent author) E-mail: coltanabe@yahoo.com


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Abstract

DOI: 10.26471/cjees/2018/013/033

The majority of the previous studies on the faunal structure and dynamic were carried out on calcareous scree slopes, and a few descriptive studies were conducted on fauna inhabiting the MSS on other geological substrates. Here, we analyzed the invertebrate communities from the MSS developed in calcareous substrate and in crystalline schists. We investigated how the environmental conditions in two different geological substrates influence the spatial distribution of invertebrate communities over time. We sampled invertebrate species, monthly, in both geological substrates, at different altitudes, depths and types of scree slopes (covered and nude screes). We identified a total of 99 invertebrate species. Canonical correspondence analysis indicated a strong correlation of the calcareous geological substratum with an invertebrate species assemblage. Calcareous substratum, altitude, exterior temperature, relative humidity and the type of gravel were identified as the main factors influencing community structure. The crystalline schists are inhabited by a heterogeneous community of species (cryphilous species or opportunistic species) and are mainly influenced by altitude and exterior relative humidity. The complex environmental conditions of Leaota Mountains emphasized that the calcareous geological substratum is an important abiotic factor that influence the structure of the invertebrate community of MSS.

Keywords:
  • mesovoid
  • shallow
  • substratum
  • invertebrates
  • abiotic
  • factors
  • geological
  • substrates
  • Leaota

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© 2018 by the author(s). Licensee CJEES, Carpathian Association of Environment and Earth Sciences. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

How to cite

Eugen NITZU, Magdalin Leonard DOROBĂŢ, Ionuț POPA, Andrei GIURGINCA & Ştefan BABA (2018). THE INFLUENCE OF GEOLOGICAL SUBSTRATE ON THE FAUNAL STRUCTURE OF THE SUPERFICIAL SUBTERRANEAN HABITATS, Carpathian Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences, August 2018, Vol. 13, No. 2, p. 383 - 393; https://doi.org/10.26471/cjees/2018/013/033

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