Caves are ubiquitous subterranean voids, accounting for a still largely unexplored surface of
the Earth underground. Due to the absence of sunlight and physical segregation, caves are …

Subsurface ecosystems (caves) are a window into hidden niches of the Earth where
microorganisms adapt to live in hostile environmental conditions that could be analogs to …

Caves are typified by their permanent darkness and a shortage of nutrients. Consequently,
bacteria play an important role in sustaining such subsurface ecosystems by dominating …

Bacteria and archaea sustain subsurface cave ecosystems by dominating primary
production and fueling biogeochemical cyclings, despite the permanent darkness and …

Caves provide relatively accessible sites in which individual species and microbial
communities grow to levels approaching 106 cells/gram of rock under near-starvation …

Caves are stable, subterranean ecosystems ideal for evaluating microbial adaptations to
darkness and nutrient limiting conditions. In this chapter, we review the bacterial and …

Among fundamental research questions in subterranean biology, the role of subterranean
microbiomes playing in key elements cycling is a top-priority one. Karst caves are widely …

Karst caves are widely distributed subsurface systems, and the microbiomes therein are
proposed to be the driving force for cave evolution and biogeochemical cycling. In past …

Despite extremely starved conditions, caves contain surprisingly diverse microbial
communities. Our research is geared toward understanding what ecosystems drivers are …

Oligotrophic caves represent an important environment for studying microbial community
adaptation, where diversity is likely driven by available energy and nutrient sources, from the …