Volcanic caves: priorities for conserving the Azorean endemic troglobiont species

• Main Authors: Borges Paulo A.V., Cardoso Pedro, Amorim Isabel R., Pereira Fernando, Constância João P., Nunes João C., Barcelos Paulo, Costa Paulino, Gabriel Rosalina, Dapkevicius Maria de Lurdes
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of South Florida Libraries 2012-01-01
• Series: International Journal of Speleology
• Subjects: multi-criteria index; complementarity; irreplaceability; fraction-of-spare; conservation; Azorean lava-tubes
• Online Access: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1060&context=ijs
• ISSN: 0392-6672; 1827-806X

Azorean lava-tubes and volcanic pits adequately sampled for arthropod fauna were evaluated for species diversity and rarity. An iterative partial multiple regression analysis was performed to produce a multi-criteria index (Importance Value for Cave Conservation, IV-CC) incorporating arthropod species diversity indices but also including indices qualifying cave geological and management features (e.g., the diversity of geological structures, threats, accessibility). Additionally, we calculated complementarity solutions (irreplaceability and Fraction-of-Spare measures) for each cave with different targets per species, i.e., the minimum number of caves needed for each species to be represented either once or twice. Our results clearly show that to preserve all troglobiont arthropods endemic to the Azores, it is crucial to protect several caves per island. As many as 10 and 15 caves are needed to include one or two occurrences, respectively, per species.