High-resolution atmospheric monitoring in cave ecosystems: dynamics, impacts and implications for management and conservation

The adoption of data-driven policies is increasingly recognized as the gold standard in managing and preserving ecosystems and relies on effective means of continuously monitoring environmental dynamics. Such an approach is crucial wherever even light anthropogenic pressures are able to exert deep alterations, like in cave ecosystems, where tourism fruition introduces moving sources of discontinuous disturbances. In this context, novel tools for high-resolution monitoring of cave atmosphere, coupling affordability and ease of construction with accuracy and adaptability to different requirements/environments, were developed. The approach pivots on low-cost and modular monitoring stations, organized into networks, providing high resolution data on several atmospheric parameters, and on an analytical workflow able to extract information on the temporal and spatial scales of tourist-induced alterations. The system can be also invaluable in shedding light on the natural dynamics of these peculiar environments, still scarcely understood, as we demonstrated in the Pertosa-Auletta Cave, one of the most important karst systems of southern Italy. In particular, the monitoring system allowed understanding the annual dynamics of temperature, relative humidity, CO2, VOC, and particulate matter size and concentration, evaluating their alterations induced by tourists and identifying the spatial and temporal scales of the latter. On the one hand, findings shed novel light on the dynamics of this peculiar system, on the other hand, the simplicity, low-cost and effectiveness of the approach make it straightforwardly applicable to other underground ecosystems, where it can support the adoption of tailored management strategies.