Marconi Souza-Silva

• PhD
• Research Associate at Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA) Brazil

Beneath the Earth's surface lies a network of interconnected caves, voids, and systems of fissures forming in rocks of sedimentary, igneous, or metamorphic origin. Though largely inaccessible to humans, this hidden realm supports and regulates services critical to ecological health and human well-being. Subterranean ecosystems are integral to major...

The connectivity between epigean and cave habitats is crucial for maintaining invertebrate communities once it can facilitate faunal movement, organic resource supply, and environmental stability. The study aimed to investigate how some spatial and temporal variations in environmental factors within caves and epigean habitats influence invertebrate...

Epigean organisms synchronize their rhythms with light-dark cycles, but hypogean species often lack these rhythms due to stable cave conditions. This study examined circadian rhythms in troglobitic har-vestmen (genus) by analyzing their locomotor activity under constant darkness (DD), constant light (LL), and light-dark (LD 12:12) cycles. Specimens...

This research investigates bacterial communities in various cave pool water and substrates from Brazil and Romania for their use as indicators of environmental impacts on groundwater. Regional and seasonal differences were observed even if, at the phylum level, common bacteria for both countries were found. Distinct patterns emerged at the genus le...

Subterranean ecosystems remain among the least explored on the planet, although studies have unveiled their biodiversity and potential for research across various ecological domains. Historically, the European continent pioneered research and knowledge production in this field. However, interest in the topic has been growing on other continents, pa...

Understanding the factors that shape invertebrate communities within caves is crucial globally, yet studies on this topic remain limited. To explore the ecological factors influencing the fauna of Padre Cave, the third-largest cave in Brazil, we analyzed the richness and composition of invertebrate communities and their responses to different cave...

Caves serve as exceptional ecological models for studying the environmental factors that shape biological communities. However, there has been limited exploration into understanding how these environmental factors affect communities’ distribution and responses to habitat traits within the same cave system. To address this gap, we employed standardi...

Aziza cave, which is also known as kef Aziza or Tazouguert cave, represents an important and large karstic system that consists of more than 3.5 km of surveyed galleries, standing as the fifth most extensive cave system in Morocco and one of the ten largest in North Africa. This study unveils Aziza cave as an important spot of subterranean diversit...

Caves, once thought to be isolated ecosystems", are now understood to have intricate connections with surface environments, particularly evident at their entrances. These connections can significantly affect the microclimate within caves, leading to varying degrees of environmental stability. Our research explores the impact of microclimate conditi...

The lack of understanding regarding how endogenous and behavioral factors affect the biological rhythms of amblypygid arachnids in cave environments underscores a gap in chronobiologic knowledge for this group. This study investigates the influence of specialization on subterranean habitats and the presence of biological rhythms on the locomotor ac...

Stable temperature, humidity, and oligotrophy may be essential in microhabitat selection, shaping niche overlap and species coexistence within cave ecosystems. To explore this hypothesis, we assessed the distribution and microhabitat preferences of four non‐obligate cave‐dwelling spiders: Loxosceles anomala , Scytodes itapevi , Philoponella vittata...

In cave environments, stable conditions devoid of light-dark cycles and temperature fluctuations sustain circadian clock mechanisms across various species. However, species adapted to these conditions may exhibit disruption of circadian rhythm in locomotor activity. This study examines potential rhythm loss due to convergent evolution in five semi-...

In cave environments, stable conditions devoid of light-dark cycles and temperature fluctuations sustain circadian clock mechanisms across various species. However, species adapted to these conditions may exhibit disruption of circadian rhythm in locomotor activity. This study examines potential rhythm loss due to convergent evolution in five semi-...

The subterranean environments of the Caatinga drylands (Brazilian biome) host a diverse array of aquatic systems and diversity, comprising both lentic and lotic ecosystems. Species diversity in these environmnts has been overlooked and remains poorly understood, especially regarding zooplankton. We studied the species richness and composition of zo...

In caves, the absence of natural light in deeper regions starkly contrasts with the entrance areas, which still exhibit a light gradient extending into the cave interior. This interplay with the structural gradient of the environment potentially exerts distinct influences on invertebrate communities residing in different cave light zones. To invest...

Circadian clocks, internal mechanisms that generate 24-hour rhythms, play a crucial role in coordinating biological events with day-night cycles. In light-deprived environments such as caves, species, particularly isolated obligatory troglobites, may exhibit evolutionary adaptations in biological rhythms due to light exposure. To explore rhythm exp...

Circadian clocks, internal mechanisms that generate 24-hour rhythms, play a crucial role in coordinating biological events with day-night cycles. In light-deprived environments such as caves, species, particularly isolated obligatory troglobites, may exhibit evolutionary adaptations in biological rhythms due to light exposure. To explore rhythm exp...

Biological research in caves, of different lithologies, has provided significant advances in the knowledge of the biodiversity and functioning of subterranean ecosystems. Such advances are crucial for the evolution of environmental analysis relevant to speleology, whether in the context of environmental licensing or that of scientific research in...

The Água Clara Cave System was previously recognized as a prominent hotspot of subterranean biodiversity in South America, harboring 31 cave-restricted species. However, a recent expedition conducted in September 2023, coinciding with an exceptionally dry period in the region, provided access to previously unexplored areas. Therefore, the objective...

Subterranean ants play an important role in the ecology, evolution, and systematics of the Formicidae group. Beyond that, the cryptobiotic environment in which they live exert selective pressure on these organisms at ecological and evolutionary timescales. Hence, the study of subterranean ants is of greatest importance as they are critically releva...

Moonmilk is a cave deposit that was used for medical and cosmetic purposes and has lately raised interest for its antimicrobial potential. We studied five moonmilk samples from four caves with different microclimatic conditions, two temperate in north-western and northern Romania (Ferice, Fața Apei, and Izvorul Tăușoarelor caves) and one tropical i...

RESUMO: A legislação brasileira concernente à determinação de áreas de conservação do patrimônio espeleológico nacional utiliza-se, dentre outras informações, de levantamentos dos parâmetros biológicos encontrados em cavernas, uma vez que estes locais representam acesso direto ao ambiente subterrâneo. Tal prática é recorrente em procedimentos de li...

In this study, we used a multimodal statistical approach to assess the influence of physical, trophic, and shelter components on the spatial and temporal structuring of terrestrial invertebrate communities in limestone caves located in Iuiú and Malhada, southwestern Bahia. Seven caves were sampled during two distinct events, in 2016 and 2021, both...

In 2022, Salvador and co-authors published an up-to-date list of gastropod species recorded from Brazilian caves. That list included 18 species (15 land and three freshwater species) that were considered by the authors to be restricted to caves (troglobitic). In this contribution we argue that only six of the species listed by them as truly troglob...

The Água Clara Cave System (ACCS) in Brazil is the richest hotspot of subterranean biodiversity in South America. In this study, we present an updated list of cave-restricted species in the ACCS and compare it with previously published hotspots in Brazil. Our list of cave-obligate fauna comprises 31 species, including 23 troglobionts and 8 stygobio...

A VIDA SUBTERRÂNEA NO CARSTE DE PAINS, MINAS GERAIS, BRASIL: BIODIVERSIDADE, AMEAÇAS E CONSERVAÇÃO DE FAUNA EM UMA NOTÁVEL PAISAGEM CÁRSTICA TROPICAL

Subterranean habitats around the world can shelter diversified and threatened faunal communities. However, issues related to alterations in the landscape and structure of subterranean habitats still need to be better understood. Therefore, we used a multi-spatial scale analysis of land cover, land use, and cave habitats to predict the diversity of...

A intenção no presente capítulo é a de discutir questões relacionadas à dinâmica de recursos alimentares em ambientes subterrâneos, com foco principalmente nas cavernas. Estes ecossistemas são consensualmente caracterizados como oligotróficos, pelo fato de apresentarem ausência de produtividade primária fotossintética o que leva à consequente escas...

Community stability and carrying capacity are essential core concepts in ecology because they reflect the interactions between organisms and their environment and provide clues to predictability. Since caves are considered stable habitats, we used long-term invertebrate monitoring to understand temporal and spatial carrying capacity in a neotropica...

Simple Summary A new genus and species of cave springtail are herein described. The new species has a remarkable morphology, suggesting it evolved within caves, such as the appendages and chaetae elongation, loss of body pigments, and 5 + 5 eyes reduced in size. The new species may also be occasionally cannibalistic, as one of the analyzed females...

The cave's physical environment can be affected by tourism activities but only a few studies evaluated how recreational use may affect the cave fauna, mainly in caves with a low number of visitors per year. To test the hypothesis that recreational use led to changes in habitat structure and invertebrate diversity, distinct scales along a cave were...

Avaliamos as diferenças na riqueza e suficiência amostral de espécies troglóbias e não-troglóbias em resposta às variações da extensão de 29 cavernas, localizadas no estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil. A amostragem de invertebrados se deu por meio de coleta ativa ao longo de toda a extensão acessível da caverna. A localização dos espécimes coletados e...

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

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

Environmental stability and oligotrophy are considered the main drivers of species distribution within caves due to physiological and nutritional requirements presented by many cave dwellers. However, such patterns are poorly evaluated in tropical caves, especially with regard to habitat selection and interspecific competition between invertebrate...

Semiarid regions experience conspicuous seasonal variations, especially related to precipitation. Caves in these areas can be exceptions since they are less affected by dry seasons. In the north of the Brazilian semiarid, there are structurally heterogeneous karst areas with significant speleological potential and several anthropogenic impacts, wit...

Environmental stability and oligotrophy are considered the main drivers of species distribution within caves due to physiological and nutritional requirements presented by many cave dwellers. However, such patterns are poorly evaluated in tropical caves, especially with regard to habitat selection and interspecific competition between invertebrate...

Chrestas capigera (Less.) Gardner is an important medicinal herb which, however, has been poorly studied for its biology and ecology. This study aimed to investigate its phenology, floral biology, reproductive biology (self-pollination tests), spatial distribution and correlations between phenophases and climatic data in two sites (Cerrado stricto...

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...

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...

In the last decade, the scientific community brought to the debate gaps that slow down the advance of knowledge regarding global biodiversity. More recently, this discussion has reached subterranean environments, where these gaps are even more dramatic due to the relict and vulnerable nature of their species. In this context, we tested ecological m...

The new legal framework for basic sanitation was sanctioned with goals of at least 90% of the population with water treatment and sewage collection. However, this situation is not consistent with the Brazilian municipalities that dispose their waste in bodies of water. Given this panorama, the present research aims to make an environmental characte...

The threat addressed to tropical biomes such as the Brazilian Cerrado leads to an urgent need for understanding the natural history of plant-insect interactions within ecosystems. Byrsonima verbascifolia is an evident Cerrado plant found to be economically and culturally important. This plant species is commonly found in that biome, showing a close...

The definition of priority for conservation becomes an emergency because habitat loss and degradation are among the main impacts on karst landscapes. In this sense, the present study aimed to evaluate the priorities for cave conservation through the combination of indexes that use species richness, species distribution, and proportion of the defore...

The present study aimed to evaluate the distribution of sand fly species in iron ore caves in the State of Pará, Brazil and to associate the richness and abundance of these insects with the capacity of leishmaniasis transmission. Entomological captures were carried out in the years 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2015, throughout active samples with brushes,...

Aim In addition to cave size and other subterranean habitat characteristics, cave entrances are important structurers of neotropical cave communities. However, little is known about the epigean ecosystems factors that might dictate the influence of entrances and the relationship among surface and cave communities, as entrance regions are ecotonal z...

The Wynberg Cave System, located on the Cape Peninsula, represents one of the most significant sites of cave fauna in southern Africa. However, the continuous increase in cave visitation is severely impacting the system as evidenced by graffiti, the trampling and destruction of cave habitats and even a reduction in the sizes of bat colonies. In Oct...

• Tourism activity affects the cave's physical environment in several ways, such as damaging speleothems, altering the cave structure for ease of access, and the shifting of cave microclimate. Nevertheless, it is less clear how the pressure of touristic activities affects the cave fauna. • This study aimed to investigate the effects from tourism ac...

Physical features and lithology variations contribute to promoting changes in faunal composition and richness between caves in Neotropics. Cave lithology effects on biodiversity were reported to iron ore caves in Brazil, however, it is less clear to granitoid and quartzite caves. Hence, based on these two kinds of rocks we correlate invertebrates s...

Studies regarding macroecological patterns involving subterranean fauna are challenging, since the environments where such species are found generally do not have the same ecological patterns observed on the surface, due to their isolation. Therefore, using data on the occurrence of invertebrate families, we tested the influence of ecological regio...

Several studies have tried to elucidate the main environmental features driving invertebrate community structure in cave environments. They found that many factors influence the community structure, but rarely focused on how substrate types and heterogeneity might shape these communities. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess which s...

Twenty caves located in a high altitudinal quartzite area in Brazil were examined for invertebrate richness and composition and in terms of environmental factors that determine community structure. We evaluate how distance, altitude, cave extension, environmental stability, number and size of cave entrances and stream presence can act on species co...

The region of Lagoa Santa stands out as the cradle of studies on epigean and subterranean ecology in Brazil. The subterranean habitats in the Lagoa Santa Karst area are structurally and biologically diverse, especially due to the wide variety of macro and microhabitats and food resources availability for the fauna. The observed biodiversity is a co...

As in other terrestrial environments, cave communities can be shaped by variations in environmental factors and evolutionary processes. Africa and South America, previously connected, underwent similar processes that gave rise to their semiarid biomes, including directing the evolution of adaptations in their fauna. Seeking to understand how the he...

High stability conditions and allochthonous energy input are characteristic of the cave environment, which limits the colonization of the habitat by invertebrates. Habitat heterogeneity is an important factor for fauna similarity and composition among sample units at different scales (sectors and quadrants). The study was carried out in Cave in the...

Subterranean habitats may be considered limiting for animal colonization, especially for ants, due to permanent darkness and mainly because of oligotrophic conditions. While not as deep as limestone caves, iron ore caves and other subterranean habitats may be more available for colonization because of their shallower depth. We use the richness and...

The Swiss biospeleologist Pierre Strinati is well known in the field of the subterranean biology for having carried out expeditions to caves and collect samples of cave fauna around the world. He visited caves in around 70 countries and discovered hundreds of new species of invertebrates and two vertebrate species, publishing several scientific pap...

In light of recent alarming trends in human population growth, climate change, and other environmental modifications, a "Warning to humanity" manifesto was published in BioScience in 2017. This call reiterated most of the ideas originally expressed by the Union of Concerned Scientists in 1992, including the fear that we are "pushing Earth's ecosyst...

Neotropical cave communities are usually dissimilar, even though their habitats have stable temperature and humidity characteristics, since they are formed mainly by non-troglobitic species from an extremely diversified epigean "stock", considering the regional external megadiversity. To understand the patterns that drive these communities, it is n...

Bats make up the second largest order among mammals. Due to the high diversity and the various trophic guilds found in the tropical region, they play important ecological functions, such as pollination, seed dispersal and pest control. They have high plasticity to use environments, and can be found in forest fragments as well as in more restricted...

Landscapes in tropical regions have been greatly altered by human activities, as a product of growing demands for mineral and agricultural production, as well as those related to the generation of energy (e.g., hydroelectric, wind). In this scenario, caves have suffered several impacts, sometimes irreversible, as they are generally associated with...

The iron ore formations and their caves are among the most unknown ecosystems in the world. These formations of Cambrian rocks cover at least 5% of the Earth’s surface and occur in spots distributed mainly in Brazil, Australia, India, and South Africa. In Brazil, the two largest ferruginous formations, Carajás and Iron Quadrangle, present distinct...

A new barklouse species belonging to the Trichadenotecnum s.str. clade (Psocodea: “Psocoptera”: Psocidae) was described from southeastern Brazil (Minas Gerais state). This locality is highly isolated (about 3400 km) from the closest known distributional range of this clade. It also represents the southernmost distributional record of Trichadenotecn...

The Brazilian semiarid region has a clear distinction between the dry season, which can last up to nine months, and the rainy season. Caves are connected to different extents to surface ecosystems, although they are idealized as stable environments due to their isolation. Furthermore, little is known about the effects of wet and dry seasonal variat...

The term hotspots of subterranean biodiversity has been used to define subterranean habitats with an arbitrary cutoff of twenty or more obligate stygobitic and troglobitic species. Until present, no hotspots of subterranean biodiversity had been identified in South America. Thus, the objective of this work is to present the first two hotspots of su...

The larva of the whirligig beetle Enhydrus sulcatus (Wiedemann, 1821) is described and illustrated for the first time, including detailed morphometric and chaetotaxic analyses of the cephalic capsule, head appendages and legs. Larvae of Enhydrus Laporte, 1834 exhibit the characters traditionally recognized as autapomorphies of the family Gyrinidae:...

RESUMO O presente estudo buscou avaliar a estrutura das comunidades de invertebrados terrestres em quatro cavernas calcárias no município de Dianópolis, estado do Tocantins. Além da composição da fauna, riqueza, diversidade e similaridade temporal e espacial entre as cavernas, foram qualificados os recursos orgânicos macroscópicos e as alterações d...

The stability of temperature and humidity in caves is well known. However, little is known if higher or lower cave environmental stability (temperature, humidity, light and others) implies changes in the structure of the biological communities. Number, position and size of entrances, then size, depth, host rock and extent of the cave, the amount an...

The cave-dwelling invertebrates were studied according to their composition, biodiversity, distribution and threats in the Atlantic Forest Central Biodiversity Corridor, a priority area for conservation actions in Brazil. Twelve obligate cave species were found, plus 495 troglophile species. Araneae (103 spp.), Coleoptera (61 spp.), Diptera (56 spp...

The present study evaluated the seasonal variation of a population of Hypena sp. in the Gruta Taboa (Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais, Brazil), in relation to changes in temperature and humidity during the dry (July 1999 and July 2000) and rainy (January 2000 and January 2001) seasons. The Hypena sp. population responded to external seasonality, being dis...

Cave environments are characterized by possessing specialized fauna living in high environmental stability with limited food conditions. These fauna are highly vulnerable to impacts, because this condition can frequently be easily altered. Moreover, environmental determinants of the biodiversity patterns of caves remain poorly understood and protec...

O objetivo do presente trabalho foi de promover uma conscientização ambiental junto a alunos da educação básica sobre a importância da prática de espeleoturismo consciente e características da fauna de cavernas, e em contrapartida, avaliar a capacidade informativa de uma cartilha ilustrada. Através do uso de questionários percebeu-se que apesar dos...

Due to their high economic value, karstic areas and caves have been affected for decades in Brazil. Accordingly, such systems have been receiving the attention of managers, environmental agencies and researchers, especially in recent years. The present study collected information regarding the cave invertebrate fauna of the Northwest region of Mina...

A population of Prorachias bristowei Mello Leitão 1924, a monotypic trapdoor spider, was studied in earthen road banks in southeastern Brazil. We assessed burrow densities, depths and widths, morphometric measures of spider bodies and recorded life history traits. Most burrows belonged to intermediate juveniles, followed by adults and a few juvenil...

Herein are recorded the composition and richness of 188 specimens of social wasps collected processing pig carcasses (Sus scrofa L.) in a Brazilian Savannah. Among the species collected Polybia (Myrapetra) fastidiosuscula de Saussure, 1854 (n = 178), Polybia (Trichotorax) ignobilis (Haliday, 1836) (n = 6), Apoica (Apoica) gelida Van der Vecth, 1972...

The litter produced in the exokarst and imported into a quartzite cave were measured, as well as the latter's availability and consumption in aquatic and terrestrial cave habitats. In the exokarst, the litter production increases during the rainy season, although the actual importation of this coarse particulate organic matter into the cave is main...

Lentic cave habitats are almost always heterotrophic habitats where there are food and oxygen input from the surface. This hydrological exchange seems to be the key factor shaping most groundwater communities. Litter processing in cave water environments has not been experimentally studied as much as it has in lotic subterranean systems, although d...