Exploration of a new subterranean terrestrial ecosystem in the arid zone of Australia

Steve Cooper | Bill Humphreys

In our field sampling of the stygofauna we discovered a diverse fauna of terrestrial subterranean species (troglobites) living in the air-filled voids of the calcretes. Higher taxa already known to be present include Palpigradi (an order new to Australia), Pseudoscorpionida, Isopoda, Schizomida, Meenoplidae (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea); Cossoninae? (Curculionidae: Coleoptera); Araneae (Gnaphosoids; Gallieniellidae?, Orsolobidae?). Many, such as Palpigradi, are clear rainforest relicts providing a window into past climates and how aridity has shaped the Australian biota. However, to date we only have limited samples of the potential troglobitic diversity of this region. The current National Geographic project involves a survey of calcretes of the Raeside, Carey and Carnegie palaeodrainages using sampling techniques that are specific to troglofauna.

Taxonomic and molecular genetic analyses will be carried out to investigate the hypothesis that the calcretes form a subterranean archipelago for the troglobites in the same way as for stygobites, i.e., that each calcrete supports unique endemic troglobite species.