1. Fundamental research questions in subterranean biology
- Author
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Johanna E. Kowalko, Ana Sofia P. S. Reboleira, Maja Zagmajster, J. Judson Wynne, Paulo A. V. Borges, Thais Giovannini Pellegrini, Meredith Protas, Florian Malard, Stefano Mammola, Naowarat Cheeptham, Melissa B. Meierhofer, Raoul Manenti, Louis Deharveng, William R. Jeffery, Jure Jugovic, Žiga Fišer, Michael P. Venarsky, Cene Fišer, Matthew L. Niemiller, Isabel R. Amorim, David C. Culver, Diana E. Northup, Alejandro Martínez, Tanja Pipan, Daniel W. Fong, Pedro Cardoso, Steven J. B. Cooper, David Eme, Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira, Thomas M. Lilley, Maria Elina Bichuette, Christian Griebler, Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa, Laboratory for Integrative Biodiversity Research (LIBRe), Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki (LUOMUS), Molecular Ecology Group (MEG), Water Research Institute (IRSA), National Research Council (CNR), Centre for Ecology - Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c), Universidade de Lisboa (ULISBOA), Laboratory of Subterranean Studies, Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Thompson Rivers University, Evolutionary Biology Unit, South Australian Museum, Australian Centre for Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity (ACEBB), University of Adelaide, Department of Environmental Science [Washington], American University Washington D.C. (AU), Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB ), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA), Ifremer BE/LBCM Centre Atlantique, Center of Studies in Subterranean Biology, Biology Department, Federal University of Lavras, SubBioLab [Ljubljana, Slovénie], University of Ljubljana, Department of Biology, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Division of Limnology, University of Vienna [Vienna], University of Maryland [College Park], University of Maryland System-University of Maryland System, Department of Biodiversity, Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies, University of Primorska, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, Florida Atlantic University [Boca Raton], BatLab Finland, Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Laboratoire d'Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés (LEHNA), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État (ENTPE)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Environmental Science and Policy [Milano], Università degli Studi di Milano [Milano] (UNIMI), Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management, Texas A&M University–Commerce, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Department of Biology [New Mexico], The University of New Mexico [Albuquerque], ZRC SAZU Karst Research Institute, UNESCO Chair on Karst Education, University of Nova Gorica, Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Domenicas University of California, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Faculty of Science [Copenhagen], University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU)-University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU), Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University [Brisbane], Department of Biological Sciences, Center for Adaptable Western Landscapes, Northern Arizona University [Flagstaff], Finnish Museum of Natural History, and Zoology
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Big data ,DIVERSITY ,Globe ,REGRESSIVE EVOLUTION ,ECOSYSTEM SERVICES ,01 natural sciences ,Ecosystem services ,groundwater ,Natural (music) ,Groundwater ,Horizon Scanning ,ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS ,media_common ,0303 health sciences ,FRESH-WATER CRAYFISHES ,Ecology ,Scope (project management) ,Research Questions ,Genomics ,Expert Opinion ,Adaptation, Physiological ,expert opinion ,Caves ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,1181 Ecology, evolutionary biology ,stygofauna ,Engineering ethics ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,CAVE CONSERVATION ,Geology ,SPECIES RICHNESS PATTERNS ,Stygofauna ,Ecology (disciplines) ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Biology ,010603 evolutionary biology ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,03 medical and health sciences ,troglobionts ,GENE FLOW ,medicine ,Adaptation (computer science) ,030304 developmental biology ,business.industry ,DIVING BEETLES ,15. Life on land ,research questions ,LIFE ,13. Climate action ,cave biology ,BIODIVERSITY ,Biospeleology ,Troglobionts ,biospeleology ,[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology ,business ,Cave Biology ,horizon scanning ,Diversity (politics) - Abstract
Five decades ago, a landmark paper in Science titled The Cave Environment heralded caves as ideal natural experimental laboratories in which to develop and address general questions in geology, ecology, biogeography, and evolutionary biology. Although the 'caves as laboratory' paradigm has since been advocated by subterranean biologists, there are few examples of studies that successfully translated their results into general principles. The contemporary era of big data, modelling tools, and revolutionary advances in genetics and (meta)genomics provides an opportunity to revisit unresolved questions and challenges, as well as examine promising new avenues of research in subterranean biology. Accordingly, we have developed a roadmap to guide future research endeavours in subterranean biology by adapting a well-established methodology of 'horizon scanning' to identify the highest priority research questions across six subject areas. Based on the expert opinion of 30 scientists from around the globe with complementary expertise and of different academic ages, we assembled an initial list of 258 fundamental questions concentrating on macroecology and microbial ecology, adaptation, evolution, and conservation. Subsequently, through online surveys, 130 subterranean biologists with various backgrounds assisted us in reducing our list to 50 top-priority questions. These research questions are broad in scope and ready to be addressed in the next decade. We believe this exercise will stimulate research towards a deeper understanding of subterranean biology and foster hypothesis-driven studies likely to resonate broadly from the traditional boundaries of this field. S.M acknowledge support by the CAWEB project “Testing macroecological theory using simplified systems”, funded by the European Commission through Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) individual fellowships (Grant no. 882221). I.R.A. was supported by Portuguese funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., under the Norma Transitória – DL57/2016/ CP1375/CT0003. D.E. was supported by IFREMER and by the CERES “Climate change and European Aquatic Resources” project funded by European Commission through Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant no. 678193). C.F., Z.F., and M.Z. were supported by the Slovenian Research Agency (program P1-0184, project N1-0069). J.E.K. was funded by NSF awards DEB1754231 and IOS1933428, and EDGE award 1923372. F.M. was supported by the French National Research Agency projects CONVERGENOMICS (ANR-15-CE32-0005) and EUR H2O’Lyon (ANR-17-EURE-0018). A.M. was supported by the ANCAVE project “Anchialine caves to understand evolutionary processes”, funded by the European Commission through Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) individual fellowships (Grant no. 745530). P.A.V.B. was supported by the project AZORESBIOPORTAL – PORBIOTA (ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072), financed by FEDER in 85% and by Azorean Public funds by 15% through Operational Program Azores 2020. A.S.P.S.R. was supported by VILLUM FONDEN (Grant no. 15471) and by a Carlsbergfondet grant (CF19-0609). T.G.P. was supported by Vale S.A. and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) for individual fellowship (RDP 00092-18). T.P. was supported by the Karst Research Programme P6-0119, LifeWatch ERIC, RI-SI LifeWatch, and EU H2020 project eLTER. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
- Published
- 2020
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