Bats of Mammoth Cave
Mammoth Cave has a wide variety of species, but one in particular is fluttering in population. These are bats. Recently, scientists and rangers at Mammoth Cave have figured out that a disease called white nose syndrome (WNS). WNS is caused by a type of fungus and presents the bats noses as white. See below. The title is pretty self explanatory. This disease can be transferred from bats or humans. If you have ever been to Mammoth Cave, you may or may not know that you have to wipe your feet in a soapy substance before you leave the park so you do not spread disease to other bats.
Some common bats in the cave are brown bats. Brown bats are pretty easy to identify; they are small and a light brown color. As you may or may not know bats are nocturnal mammals. Nocturnal animals sleep during the day and are most active at night. Since Mammoth Cave is not too far from the state of Indiana, Indiana bats have also inhabited the cave. Along with the Indiana bats, there are gray bats, also the title is pretty self-explanatory. The population of bats is flourishing, ranging to 9 to 12 million just in the Historic Range.
Sources used: http://www.ohranger.com/mammoth-cave/preserving-park
Sources used: https://www.nps.gov/maca/learn/nature/mammals.htm
Sources used: http://www.ohranger.com/mammoth-cave/preserving-park
Sources used: https://www.nps.gov/maca/learn/nature/mammals.htm
Plants of the Park |
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There are no plants inside the cave since it receives little to no sunlight. Instead, the plant biodiversity that represents Mammoth Cave National Park is the trees outside the cave. Surrounding the cave there are forest and such. There are over 1,000 plant species and 84 of those are trees. There has been a potential loss of biodiversity in Mammoth Cave National Park over the years. This could be because of WNS and other pathogens. A pathogen is anything that causes a disease.
http://www.ohranger.com/mammoth-cave/preserving-park
http://www.ohranger.com/mammoth-cave/preserving-park
Unique Animals of the Park
As you may or may not know, Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system in the world as we know. Due to this, Mammoth Cave contains many different species of animals, and they often spend their entire lives inside of caves. With the exception of bats who come out during their migrating season, there is a variety of many animals whose habitats are located inside of the caves.
One type of animal that spends there entire life in a cave is a troglobite. This lives in a cave for their entire lives, their bodies instinctive adaptation helping them live in caves. These animals are unable to live outside of the caves. No sunlight also affects troglobites' lifestyle by their coloring becoming white and the animals being eyeless. Examples of troglobites listed below.
One type of animal that spends there entire life in a cave is a troglobite. This lives in a cave for their entire lives, their bodies instinctive adaptation helping them live in caves. These animals are unable to live outside of the caves. No sunlight also affects troglobites' lifestyle by their coloring becoming white and the animals being eyeless. Examples of troglobites listed below.
- Cave Shrimp
- Eyeless Cave Fish
- Cave Cricket
- Cave Fly
Another type of animal is a troglophile and they can live outside of caves, as long it is a cave-like environment. They enjoy the dark, and they treat sunlight like vampires would, like in Twilight. Although they do not need darkness to live, they prefer the dim lighting at the entrance of the cave. Examples of troglophiles listed below.
- Cave Crayfish
- Sculpin
- Springfish
- Salamanders
- Spiders
The last type of animal in a cave is a trogloxene. They use caves as shelter, but often leave for food. They are often prey of the troglophiles and troglobites, feeding off the trogloxenes themselves, their food that they collected, and their droppings. Examples of trogloxenes listed below:
- Pack Rats
- Bats
- Cave Crickets
Sources include:
http://animals.mom.me/kind-animals-live-mammoth-cave-3473.html
http://www.sculpinqa.com/sculpin/
http://animals.mom.me/kind-animals-live-mammoth-cave-3473.html
http://www.sculpinqa.com/sculpin/
Cave Water Life
The cave consists of many different types of biodiversity, including types of water species. Some of these water species include:
- Eyeless Cave Fish
- Water Bugs
- Cave Shrimp
Human Impact on Biodiversity
There is a great amount of human impact on this cave. As you may know, Mammoth Cave is a national park and is open to visitors world-wide. (Plan your visit here: http://mammothcave.com/) Due to this, cave crickets can become intimidating to small children, even adults. They can often become injured, or even killed. Also, the park warns visitors about touching the cave walls, mostly because the oils on our hands can reduce cave growth. Biodiversity ecosystems can be ruined by this.