Monitoring and Research on Subterranean Habitats and Cave Fauna

Section: Zoology

Responsible staff: Alexander Weigand

Research strategy: Dynamic Archives of Nature; Understanding and Preserving Nature; Society and Natural History

Caves and other subterranean environments are of great cultural value. As repositories of prehistoric artefacts and paintings, they provide information about the lives of our ancestors.

Their spectacular mineral formations attract many tourists and also serve as archives of past climate. Yet the natural richness of these underground cavities, as highly diverse habitats, is often overlooked. This is particularly evident in the case of groundwater, too often regarded solely as a resource for drinking water, although it also harbours a highly specialised fauna, known as “stygofauna”, adapted to life in these hidden environments.

To raise awareness of these habitats and their inhabitants, the Zoology Department, in collaboration with the Fondation Faune‑Flore and the Groupe Spéléologique Luxembourgeois (GSL), carries out national monitoring of habitat type 8310 (“Caves not open to the public”) on behalf of the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity, within the framework of the European Union Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC).

Each subterranean site is surveyed: the local fauna, the typical structures of the habitat and human impacts are studied. A national list of cave and groundwater animals in Luxembourg, as well as a register of subterranean cavities, is updated regularly.

In our research, particular attention is given to studying the diversity and distribution of groundwater amphipods (Amphipoda, Niphargidae) in Luxembourg and the Greater Region.

The results of the project are integrated into nature‑protection and species‑management plans at various levels. In the long term, the data collected will help to better understand the causes of subterranean biodiversity decline and to develop scientifically based conservation measures.

Recent publications :

Zagmajster, M., Balázs, G., Biró, A., Bucur, R., Collard, O., Delic, T., ... & Weigand, H. (2024). The Sub-BioMon Project: Developing and testing approaches to monitor subterranean biodiversity in karst. In Karst Science Days Symposium Proceedings (p. 51).

Hose, G. C., Di Lorenzo, T., Fillinger, L., Galassi, D. M. P., Griebler, C., Hahn, H. J., ... & Weigand, A. (2023). Assessing groundwater ecosystem health, status, and services. Groundwater ecology and evolution, 501-524.

Weber, D., Brad, T., Weigand, A., & Flot, J. F. (2023). Water diviners multiplied: cryptic diversity in the Niphargus aquilex species complex in Northern Europe. bioRxiv, 2023-08.

Weber, D., & Weigand, A. M. (2023). Groundwater amphipods of the hyporheic interstitial: A case study from Luxembourg and The Greater Region. Diversity, 15(3), 411.

Weigand, A., Zaenker, S., Weber, D., Schaper, S., Bröker, M., Zaenker, C., & Chitimia-Dobler, L. (2023). Tick findings from subterranean environments in the Central German Uplands and Luxembourg reveal a predominance of male Ixodes hexagonus. Experimental and Applied Acarology, 89(3), 461-473.

Frantz, A. C., Viglino, A., Wilwert, E., Cruz, A. P., Wittische, J., Weigand, A. M., ... & Pir, J. B. (2022). Conservation by trans-border cooperation: population genetic structure and diversity of geoffroy’s bat (Myotis emarginatus) at its north-western European range edge. Biodiversity and Conservation, 31(3), 925-948.

Weber, D., Flot, J. F., Frantz, A. C., & Weigand, A. M. (2022). Molecular analyses of groundwater amphipods (Crustacea: Niphargidae) from Luxembourg: new species reveal limitations of morphology-based checklists. Zootaxa, 5222(6), 501-533.

Weigand, A., Bücs, S. L., Deleva, S., Bilela, L. L., Nyssen, P., Paragamian, K., ... & Thies, J. C. (2022). Current cave monitoring practices, their variation and recommendations for future improvement in Europe: A synopsis from the 6th EuroSpeleo Protection Symposium. Research Ideas and Outcomes, 8, e85859.

Zittra, C., Vitecek, S., Teixeira, J., Weber, D., Schindelegger, B., Schaffner, F., & Weigand, A. M. (2021). Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in the dark—highlighting the importance of genetically identifying mosquito populations in subterranean environments of Central Europe. Pathogens, 10(9), 1090.

Grabner, D., Weber, D., & Weigand, A. M. (2020). Updates to the sporadic knowledge on microsporidian infections in groundwater amphipods (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Niphargidae). Subterranean Biology, 33, 71-85.