![]() ![]() For these reasons we remember: DO NOT DISTURB life within a cave.īlind cave fish adapt by having sensory cells in their skin that detects movements in the water nearby.Ĭave animals fit into three categories based on the amount of time they actually spend in the cave. Remember, the number of animals in a cave is far fewer than their relatives on the surface. Thus the food chain continues.Īll species in the cave system are dependent upon each other for survival. The droppings from larger cave animals replenishes the food supply for fungus and bacteria. These animals then become the food supply for the larger predators like salamanders or crayfish. Instead, bacteria and fungi decompose these materials into simple foods and nutrients.įungus-eating insects, such as beetles and mites, feed on the fungi and bacteria on animal droppings and plant debris. Few animals can directly feed on these droppings. The droppings from animals, such as bats and crickets, may provide the only major food source in some caves. Another food source is provided by droppings from animals that go outside to feed then return to the cave to sleep or raise their young. Cave animals must depend on occasional floods to wash leaves, twigs and plant debris into the cave. No green plants grow here because they need light for photosynthesis. ![]() Scientists are just now beginning to appreciate the amazing role that micro-organisms, including super small "nanobacteria" play in cave systems.Īll life depends on sunlight, even in the darkest areas of a cave. ![]()
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