Diversity and ecology of the macro-invertebrate fauna (Nemata and Arthropoda) of Kartchner Caverns, Cochise County, Arizona, United States of America

Abstract

A two-year study of the diversity and ecology of the macro-invertebrate fauna (Nemata and Arthropoda) of Kartchner Caverns, near Benson, Arizona, USA, was conducted between September 2009 and September 2011. The study expands on the baseline study conducted twenty years earlier, from 1989-1991, which was one of several resource analyses conducted prior to development of Kartchner Caverns as an Arizona State Park. The recent study makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the invertebrate fauna and ecology of Kartchner Caverns and cave macro-invertebrates in the desert region of the southwestern United States and Northern Mexico. The initial study identified 39 macro-invertebrate species associated with the ecology of the cave. The recent study increased this number to 98 species, including 16 species new to science, seven of which are troglobites. Kartchner Caverns is now known to support the most species-rich macro-invertebrate ecology of any cave in Arizona.