Institute of Speleology Romania

10/11/2025

Soil pollution patterns in some Romanian karst areas

Understanding the occurrence and spatial variability of potentially toxic elements in soils is essential for tracing pollution origins, assessing ecological risks, and supporting sustainable land use management. This study investigates the soil pollution with Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cr, As, Mn, Sr, and....

15/09/2025

06/08/2025

New endemic beetles from Romanian caves

Romania’s subterranean habitats (including caves and other superficial subterranean environments) have more than 300 troglobionts according to Dryad, https://doi [...]

04/08/2025

04/06/2025

Ostracods day at the Institute of Speleology.
Two articles have been published today on groundwater Ostracoda!
A paper on European groundwater Ostracoda
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/geb.70065
and
A paper on a new species in Melissotrypa Cave (Greece)
https://subtbiol.pensoft.net/article/142113/
Congrats!

The genus Mixtacandona Klie, 1938 (Crustacea, Ostracoda, Candonidae) includes 21 living non-marine species, all subterranean, with Palearctic distribution. Here we report on Mixtacandona thessalica sp. nov., collected in a sulfidic cave in central Greece. It can be considered an extremophile species...

23/03/2025

This form aims at gathering signatures from scientists to the scientific statement on the update of the list of priority substances and groundwater pollutants. Access some background information on the matter by reading the briefing. The statement will be send to the European Parliament, the Europea...

21/03/2025

Cave bacteria are still little known but have huge potential including as indicators of climate change and anthropogenic impacts. Some results presented in this article from Romanian and Brazilian caves 😉

This research investigates bacterial communities in various cave pool water and substrates from Brazil and Romania for their use as indicators of environmental impacts on groundwater. Regional and seasonal differences were observed even if, at the phylum level, common bacteria for both countries wer...

05/03/2025

...and the second paper in the same issue signed by our dear associated researcher, Tiziana Di Lorenzo 😊

Abstract. Aquifers harbor unique and highly adapted species, contributing to critical ecological processes and services. Understanding the key factors driving invertebrate assemblages in aquifers is a challenging task that, traditionally, has primarily been achieved in karst. This study aimed to unc...

05/03/2025

Bacteria can be used in paleoenvironmental studies. Still developing the domain but results are promising 😇

Abstract. Caves are well-known archives that preserve valuable information about the past, relevant for reconstructing past climates and environments. We sampled sediments from a 480 cm deep profile, and 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene-based metabarcoding analyses were undertaken that c...