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Cave biota of Sierra Nieves Natural Park, Andalucía, Spain

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This work represents the first large scale cave biological inventory of caves in Sierra de las Nieves Natural Park, Andalucía, Spain. We sampled seven caves (three low and four high elevation caves) from 22 June through 01 July 2017. We have preliminarily identified at least 42 morphospecies and 13 coarse-level taxonomic groups (i.e., Order or higher) of cave-dwelling arthropods including the relict springtail species, Onychiurus gevorum Arbea 2012. Bats were detected in two of three low elevation caves; a bat roost of unknown type consisting of approximately 100 bats was observed in one cave, and one bat (Myotis sp.) was found torporing in another cave. The common toad (Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758)) was identified in two low elevation caves. We also provide recommendations for additional research to aid in the future management of these resources.
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... Se dispuso de topografías de todas las cavidades, excepto de la Sima Campamento, realizadas por el Grupo de Exploraciones Subterráneas de la Sociedad Excursionista de Málaga, el Grupo de Espeleólogos Gra-nadinos y la Sociedad Espeleoexcursionista Mainake. Se representaron todos los sitios de muestreo de artrópodos sobre cada una de las topografías de las cuevas (Wynne et al., 2018a). ...
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Este trabajo representa el primer inventario, a gran escala, de la biología de las cuevas del Parque Natural de la Sierra de las Nieves, Andalucía, España. Se han muestreado siete cavidades, de las cuales tres se localizan a cota relativamente baja, a una altura media de unos 1000 m.s.n.m., mientras las otras cuatro se localizan a una cota relativamente alta, con una altura media de 1600 m.s.n.m. Se han identificado, de modo preliminar, al menos 40 morfoespecies y 13 grupos taxonómicos a escala general (esto es, categorías taxonómicas de nivel orden o superior) de artrópodos que viven en cuevas, incluyendo la especie relicta de colémbolo Onychiurus gevorum Arbea 2012. Los murciélagos se detectaron en dos de las tres cuevas de cota baja; una colonia de murciélagos, posiblemente Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (Schreber, 1774), consistente en aproximadamente 100 individuos que se vio en una de las cuevas; y un murciélago (Myotis sp.) que se encontró aletargado en otra cavidad. El sapo común (Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758)) se ha encontrado en dos de las cuevas de cota baja. Se proponen recomendaciones para desarrollar una investigación complementaria que ayude a la gestión futura de estos recursos biológicos.
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