Ana Zélia Miller

Spanish National Research Council | CSIC · Institute for Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Sevilla

Nearly half a century ago, two papers postulated the likelihood of lunar lava tube caves using mathematical models. Today, armed with an array of orbiting and fly-by satellites and survey instrumentation, we have now acquired cave data across our solar system—including the identification of potential cave entrances on the Moon, Mars, and at least n...

Brazil’s caves, home to diverse species and minerals, were stripped of protections by a recent presidential decree.

Soil water repellency (SWR) is a physical property due to a complex interaction of factors (e.g., fire, soil organic matter, soil texture) that reduces the soil water infiltration capacity. Traditionally, SWR is attributed to the accumulation and redistribution of hydrophobic compounds within soil profile. To obtain further insight into chemical co...

Soil water repellency (hydrophobicity) prevents water from wetting or infiltrating soils, triggering changes in the ecosystems. This physical property is directly correlated to the erodibility grade of a soil. Wildfire events may develop, enhance, or destroy soil hydrophobicity, modifying the erodibility grade of a soil and increasing the loss of i...

The 15th UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) (COP15) will be held in Kunming, China in October 2021. Historically, CBDs and other multilateral treaties have either alluded to or entirely overlooked the subterranean biome. A multilateral effort to robustly examine, monitor, and incorporate the subterranean biome into future conservation targ...

Biochar application to soils has become a focus of research during the last decade due to its high potential for C sequestration. Nevertheless, there is no exhaustive information on the long-term effects of biochar application in soils contaminated with trace elements. In this work, a 2-year field experiment was conducted comprising the application...

The 15th UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) (COP15) will be held in Kunming, China in October 2021. Historically, CBDs and other multilateral treaties have either alluded to or entirely overlooked the subterranean biome. A multilateral effort to robustly examine, monitor, and incorporate the subterranean biome into future conservation targ...

Soil water repellency (hydrophobicity) prevents water from wetting or infiltrating soils, triggering changes in the ecosystems. This physical property is directly correlated to the erodibility grade of a soil. Wildfire events may develop, enhance or destroy hydrophobicity in previously wettable or water-repellent soils, which alter the erodibility...

Over the last two years, we have been announcing the numerous changes that have been implemented in the journal [1-3]. The adoption of a new website (https://conservarpatrimonio.pt) was the most recent change. For instance, the last issue number 36, was the first one to be published on this new website. Now, we are pleased to announce another set o...

Lava caves differ from karstic caves in their genesis and mineral composition. Subsurface microbiology of lava tube caves in Canary Islands, a volcanic archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, is largely unknown. We have focused the investigation in a representative lava tube cave, Fuente de la Canaria Cave, in La Palma Island, Spain, which presents diff...

The microbiota associated with vermiculations from karst caves is largely unknown. Vermiculations are enigmatic deposits forming worm-like patterns on cave walls all over the world. They represent a precious focus for geomicrobiological studies aimed at exploring both the microbial life of these ecosystems and the vermiculation genesis. This study...

2020 foi um ano atipicamente difícil. A pandemia global COVID-19 obrigou, a espaços, ao encerramento de vários sectores de atividade, incluindo universidades, laboratórios e empresas, levando a que, investigadores e técnicos, se vissem forçados a interromper temporariamente a sua investigação ou, na melhor das hipóteses, a desenvolvê-la de forma li...

2020 marks 25 years since Olivier Guillitte defined the term ‘bioreceptivity’, to describe the ability of a building material to be colonised by living organisms. Although Guillitte noted in his 1995 paper that several issues required further investigation, to the best of our knowledge the bioreceptivity concept has not been restated, reviewed, rea...

Morgana Cave is located in Val di Scerscen, Central Italian Alps. The cave opens at an altitude of 2,600 m a.s.l. close to the retreating glacier Vedretto di Scerscen, and its entrance was discovered 30 years ago hidden underneath the glacier. A characteristic of this cave is the occurrence of vermiculation deposits on the walls and ceiling. In gen...

Historical glazed wall tiles are a unique vehicle of artistic expression that can be found outdoors, integrating the buildings of many countries, therefore they are often subjected to biodeterioration. In this work, the applicability of protective coatings on glazed tiles to prevent biological colonization was evaluated. Thin films of titanium diox...

A year has passed since the new editorial and direction board assumed the direction of the journal [1]. We would like to highlight some changes that have been implemented, particularly those involving the image and management of Conservar Património, remarking that some changes are still under development.

The Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) have a unique ecosystem on Earth due to their outstanding biodiversity and geological features. This also extends to their subterranean heritage, such as volcanic caves, with plenty of secondary mineral deposits, including coralloid-type speleothems and moonmilk deposits. In this study, the bacterial communities asso...

Application of biochar has been widely suggested as a remediation tool for trace element-polluted soils, but the impact of biochar on microbial communities and on native plants remain largely unknown. To overcome this knowledge gap, biochar produced from rice husk and olive pit were applied at a rate of 8 t ha−1 into a soil with two contrasting lev...

The lack of scientific information about the effects of wildfire on prehistoric structures and rock art, such as dolmens and petroglyphs, impedes the development of conservation guidelines. In this study, the impact of a recent wildfire (late 2017) on granite outcrops in the San Salvador de Coruxo archaeological site (Vigo, SW Galicia) was evaluate...

As part of the Biology and Mars Experiment (BIOMEX; ILSRA 2009-0834), samples of the lichen Circinaria gyrosa were placed on the exposure platform EXPOSE-R2, on the International Space Station (ISS) and exposed to space and to a Mars-simulated environment for 18 months (2014-2016) to study: (1) resistance to space and Mars-like conditions and (2) b...

As part of the Biology and Mars Experiment (BIOMEX; ILSRA 2009-0834), samples of the lichen Circinaria gyrosa were placed on the exposure platform EXPOSE-R2, on the International Space Station (ISS) and exposed to space and to a Mars-simulated environment for 18 months (2014–2016) to study: (1) resistance to space and Mars-like conditions and (2) b...

San Salvador (Bahamas) is a carbonate island with dozens of flank margin caves formed in the phreatic zone by fresh seawater mixing within the freshwater lens. These caves have no direct connection with the sea, and form at or close to the tidally influenced fluctuating water table. After sea-level fall, in their subaerial parts caves are enlarged...

Biochar is a pyrogenous organic material resulting from the pyrolysis of organic residues, which is attracting the interest from researchers and farmers for its potential to sequester carbon and its use as soil ameliorant. Pyrolysis conditions and feedstock determine the properties of the biochars produced. In order to understand the relationship b...

O fogo afeta negativamente a saúde e qualidade do solo, favorecendo a ocorrência de processos erosivos e a sua perda. Este impacto nos solos é intensificado pelo aquecimento global, que agrava o risco de incêndios. Consequentemente, novas formas de carbono (C) são produzidas no solo, também ocorrendo modificações térmicas nas formas de carbono prev...

Siliceous speleothems frequently reported in volcanic caves have been traditionally interpreted as resulting from basalt weathering combined with the activity of microbial communities. A characteristic feature in lava tubes from Hawaii, Azores and Canary Islands is the occurrence of black jelly-like speleothems. Here we describe the formation proce...

Fetida Cave is an active sulfuric acid cave influenced by seawater, showing abundant microbial communities that organize themselves under three main different morphologies: water filaments, vermiculations and moonmilk deposits. These biofilms/deposits have different cave distribution, pH, macro-and microelement and mineralogical composition, carbon...

Unlike the spectacular speleothems that can often be found in numerous caves, vermiculations are rather un-assuming formations, whose origin and evolution still subject of several heated debates. In order to provide a quantitative basis for the understanding of the nature and evolution of vermiculations in karst environments, the geochemical proper...

Bacterial and fungal soil biodiversity express the degree of conservation and functionality in natural habitats, allowing to monitor variations related to environmental changes. Thus, the characterization of soil communities in threatened woodland habitats of European interest (defined by the EU Directive 92/43/CEE, or “Habitat Directive”) is of gr...

Vermiculations are little known structures occurring in underground environments. They are thin, irregular and discontinuous deposits of incoherent particles, with diverse morphology (dots, dendritic, hieroglyphic…), colour (red, brownish, grey, white…) and size (1), typically found on walls and roofs of natural or artificial caves all over the wor...

Technical ceramics are being widely employed in the electric power, medical and engineering industries because of their thermal and mechanical properties, as well as their high resistance qualities. The manufacture of technical ceramic components involves complex processes, including milling and stirring of raw materials in aqueous solutions, spray...

This study aimed at evaluating the influence of ageing on the bioreceptivity and biodeterioration ofglazed tiles by fungi. These microorganisms have been identified in historical tile colonizing microbialcommunities. A 12-month laboratory colonization experiment was conducted using pristine and artifi-cially aged tile models inoculated withDevriesi...

The interest of using biochar, the solid byproduct from organic waste pyrolysis, as soil conditioner is significantly increasing. Nevertheless, persistent organic pollutants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are formed during pyrolysis due to the incomplete combustion of organic matter. Consequently, these pollutants may enter the e...

Caves are largely unknown environments, hosting in their peculiar ecological niches a wide diversity of extremophile microorganisms, highly specialized and adapted to the prohibitive conditions of caves (1). The role of cave biota in the formation of enigmatic structures occurring in underground environments, like vermiculations, is still largely u...

Continental active serpentinization of ultramafic rocks is today recognized as a key process triggering a sequence of phenomena involving the passage from inorganic, to organic and metabolic reactions. These may have a role in the origin of life, and may explain the occurrence of abiotic hydrocarbons on Earth and other planets. Production of hypera...

Exploration of the solar system is a priority research area of the AstRoMap European Astrobiology Roadmap (Horneck et al., 2015) [1], focused on various research topics, one of them is “Life and Habitability” and an other one is “Biomarkers for easy the detection of life”. Therefore “space platforms and laboratories” are necessary, such as EXPOSE,...

The background of this paper is the biographical relationship between the Menga dolmen and La Peña de los Enamorados mountain (a conspicuous and highly-recognisable natural formation), both part of the Antequera megalithic landscape. Our main aim is to provide a high-resolution characterisation of the Matacabras rock art shelter, located on the nor...

Val di Scerscen is located in the Central Italian Alps (Northern Lombardy), in the scenic setting of Valmalenco. This area is not very rich in caves, especially due to the abundant presence of oceanic metamorphic rocks, which where uplifted during the Alpine orogenesis, dominate the terrains. A thin lens of whitish dolomitic marbles belonging to th...

Lichens are extremely resistant organisms that colonize harsh climatic areas, some of them defined as “Mars-analog sites.” There still remain many unsolved questions as to how lichens survive under such extreme conditions. Several studies have been performed to test the resistance of various lichen species under space and in simulated Mars-like con...

Pyrogenic organic matter (PyOM) is assumed to be biochemically recalcitrant, but recent studies indicated a quick decrease of PyOM in post-fire soils. Regardless erosion and abiotic degradation, microbial decomposition has been the explanation for this response, but no direct proof has been provided up to now. In the present study, we were able to...

Microbial diversity in lava tubes from Canary Islands (Spain) has never been explored thus far offering a unique opportunity to study subsurface microbiology. Abundant yellow coloured mats developing on coralloid speleothems in a lava tube from La Palma Islands were studied by next-generation sequencing and DNA/RNA clone library analyses for invest...

Two Gram-positive, catalase-positive, oxidase-negative, motile, endospore-forming, rod-shaped bacteria, designated as 0911MAR22V3T and 0911TES10J4, were isolated from air samples collected in two show caves, located in Andalusia, Southern Spain. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that both strains were indistinguishabl...

The conceptual model of Cabeço de Vide mineral waters, issuing at the contact metamorphism zone developed by the local mafic/ultramafic pluton, is described. These mineral waters discharge with a temperature between 17 and 20°C, show a very alkaline pH (up to 11.8), and have: Na-Cl/Ca-OH facies; dry residuum ≈ 200mg/L; Ctotal < 3.0mg/L; and extreme...

The deposition of soot on building surfaces darkens their colour and leads to undesirable black crusts, which are one of the most serious problems on the conservation of built cultural heritage. As a preventive strategy, self-cleaning systems based on the use of titanium dioxide (TiO2) coatings have been employed on building materials for degrading...

The Circular Mausoleum tomb (Roman Necropolis of Carmona, Spain) dates back from the first century AD and is characterized by a dense microbial (phototrophic) colonization on the walls and ceiling. However, some walls exhibited an important number of violet stains of unknown origin. The microbial communities of these violet stains are mainly compos...

Subsurface granitic environments are scarce and poorly investigated. A multi-disciplinary approach was used to characterize the abundant moonmilk deposits and associated microbial communities coating the granite walls of the 16th Century Paranhos spring water tunnel in Porto city (north-west Portugal). It is possible that this study is the first re...

The effects of aging on biochar (BC) properties, composition and carbon sequestration are still under debate. This study aimed at illustrating the qualitative alterations of five different BCs aged during a 24-month field experiment located in Southwest Spain. To determine the recalcitrance of each BC, physical fragmentation test, scanning electron...

Soil water repellency (hydrophobicity) prevents water from wetting or infiltrating soils, triggering changes in the ecosystems. Fire may develop, enhance or destroy hydrophobicity in previously wettable or water-repellent soils. Soil water repellency is mostly influenced by the quality and quantity of soil organic matter, particularly the lipid fra...

Sulfuric acid cave systems host abundant microbial communities that can colonize several environments displaying a variety of morphologies, i.e. white filamentous mats floating on the water surface, white creamy moonmilk deposits on the walls, and biovermiculations. Up to date, only few reports have described the microbiological aspects behind biov...

The lichen Circinaria gyrosa is an astrobiological model defined by its high capacity of resistance to space conditions and to a simulated martian environment. Therefore, it became part of the currently operated BIOMEX experiment on board the International Space Station and the recent STARLIFE campaign to study the effects of four types of space-re...

Caves are regarded as extreme habitats with appropriate conditions for the development of Actinobacteria. In comparison with other habitats, caves have not yet been the target of intensive screening for bioactive secondary metabolites produced by actinomycetes. As a primary screening strategy, we conducted a metagenomic analysis of the diversity an...

This study comprises an innovative approach based on the combination of chromatography (analytical pyrolysis and pyrolysis compound-specific isotope analysis (Py-CSIA)), light stable isotopes, microscopy and mineralogy analyses to characterize the internal layering of coralloid speleothems from the Ana Heva lava tube in Easter Island (Chile). This...

The Fishing House located on the grounds of the Marquis of Pombal Palace, Oeiras, Portugal, was built in the 18(th) century. During this epoch, Portuguese gardens, such as the one surrounding the Fishing House, were commonly ornamented with glazed wall tile claddings. Currently, some of these outdoor tile panels are covered with dark coloured biofi...

A laboratory-based methodology was designed to assess the bioreceptivity of glazed tiles. The experimental set-up consisted of multiple steps: manufacturing of pristine and artificially aged glazed tiles, enrichment of phototrophic microorganisms, inoculation of phototrophs on glazed tiles, incubation under optimal conditions and quantification of...

Different types of hard and soft speleothems (stalactites, stalagmites, columns, crusts, flowstones, micro-gours and botryoidal coralloids) have been observed throughout lava tubes in the Galapagos archipelago, Ecuador. Three lava tubes were studied in this work: Gallardo and Royal Palm volcanic caves (Santa Cruz Island) and Sucre Cave (Isabela Isl...

Rocks, either in natural geological outcrops or in stone monuments, are common habitats for a wide variety of microorganisms which colonize both rock surfaces and cracks. Physical properties such as porosity and surface roughness make limestone susceptible to biological colonization, which may induces aesthetic and/or physical and chemical damages....

Volcanic caves are filled with colorful microbial mats on the walls and ceilings. These volcanic caves are found worldwide, and studies are finding vast bacteria diversity within these caves. One group of bacteria that can be abundant in volcanic caves, as well as other caves, is Actinobacteria. As Actinobacteria are valued for their ability to pro...

The walls of the Circular Mausoleum tomb (Roman Necropolis of Carmona, Spain) exhibit an important number of violet stains of unknown origin. Analytical pyrolysis detected in the tomb walls granaticin A, a violet pigment with an isobenzochromanequinone structure, as well as in the extracts of two bacterial strains isolated from the walls. The bacte...

Lascaux Cave in France is famous for the exceptional quality of its Paleolithic paintings with 915 figures of animals and numerous geometric symbols. The cave has suffered three microbial crises, and since 1963 it is closed to the public due to the colonization of the alga Bracteacoccusminor. Further the fungi Fusariumsolani and Ochroconis lascauxe...

Ana Heva lava tube (Easter Island, Chile): Preliminary characterization of the internal layers of coralloid-type speleothems - Volume 21 Issue S6 - A.Z. Miller, M.F.C Pereira, J.M. Calaforra, P. Forti, A. Dionísio, C. Saiz-Jimenez

In summer 2007, members of the Tebexcorade – La Palma Speleology Group located a blowing narrow passage in Llano de Los Caños Cave near Mazo municipality (La Palma, Canary Islands). This cave was studied years ago by the same group and encoded as LP/MZ-04 in the Cave Catalogue from La Palma. The passage, very small and with a strong air stream, led...

NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING OF STONE BIODETERIORATION AND BIOCLEANING EFFECTIVENESS Sasso S.(1,2), Miller A.Z.(3,4),. Rogerio-Candelera M.A(3), Cubero B.(3), Scrano L.(5), Bufo S.A. (1) and Saiz-Jimenez C.(3) 1 Department of Science, University of Basilicata, Via dell’Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100, Potenza, Italy. 2 Doctoral School of “Bio ecosystems and Bio...

Ceramic industry represents an important sector of economic activity in the European countries and involves complex and numerous manufacturing processes. The unidirectional dry pressing process includes milling and stirring of raw materials (mainly clay and talc minerals) in aqueous suspensions, followed by spray drying to remove excess water obtai...

The Circular Mausoleum tomb in the Roman Necropolis of Carmona was carved on a calcarenite sequence in an ancient quarry located in the town of Carmona, Southern Spain. This rock-cut tomb, representative of Roman burial practices, currently suffers from serious deterioration. A detailed survey over several years permitted the identification of the...

This work presents the first review on biodiversity, biodeterioration and bioreceptivity of architectural ceramics. Literature dating from 1972 to 2014 was compiled and analysed in order to summarise the current knowledge and to facilitate a better understanding of the subject. Data regarding biodiversity found on architectural ceramic materials wa...