The entrance as a complex ecotone in a Neotropical cave

• Published in: International journal of speleology Vol. 44; no. 2; pp. 177 - 189
• Main Authors: Prous, Xavier, Lopes Ferreira, Rodrigo, Jacobi, Claudia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bologna University of South Florida Board of Trustees, a public body corporate, having locations in Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Sarasota 01.05.2015; University of South Florida Libraries
• Subjects: Caves; Detritus; Food resources; Herbivores; Limestone; Spatial distribution; Species composition; Species diversity; Transition zone

Cave entrances are transition zones with intermediate characteristics between epigean environments, which bear lower environmental stability, and hypogean environments, with lower food resources. Associated to these interfaces there is a specific community, capable of exploiting its unique and inter...