Caves have been an item of amateur and professional exploration for many years. Research
on the karst caves has revealed great diversity of bacteria, algae, and fungi living on stone …

Subterranean ecosystems are among the most widespread environments on Earth, yet we
still have poor knowledge of their biodiversity. To raise awareness of subterranean …

Caves are home to unique and fragile biotas with high levels of endemism. However, little is
known about how the biotic colonization of caves has developed over time, especially in …

Bat caves are very special roosts that harbour thousands of bats of one or more species.
Such sites may hold an incredible “dark fungal diversity” which is still underestimated. We …

Although whole genome duplication (WGD) has been suggested to facilitate adaptive
evolution and diversification, the role of specific WGD events in promoting diversification and …

Plant diversity, habitat properties, and their relationships in karst caves remain poorly
understood. We surveyed vascular plant and bryophyte diversities and measured the habitat …

Intestinal microbes are closely related to vital host functions such as digestion and nutrient
absorption, which play important roles in enhancing host adaptability. As a natural …

Most of the plants are essential due to their medicinal properties and have contributed to the
origin and evolution of many traditional herbal therapies. Rheum is also one of the famous …

Karst landscapes typically have extremely poor soil fertility, water retention, and water
holding capacity, making these landscapes extremely unusual among terrestrial …

Karst is defined as landscapes that are underlain by soluble rock in which there is
appreciable water movement arising from a combination of high rock solubility and well …