News & Notes

Look through the 2018 SEI Annual Report to see what SEI, our partners, and volunteers accomplished in 2018.

Continuing the research led by Dr. Megan Porter (University of Hawaii at Manoa), Dr. Christy Slay (University of Arkansas), and Mike Slay (TNC) and primarily funded through a grant from the Cave Conservancy Foundation, the Subterranean Ecology Institute helped support a two-week effort to continue research on lava tube cave ecosystems on the Island of Hawai’i. The efforts on this trip began with some time spent working through collections at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu before a very successful foray into numerous lava tubes on the Big Island.

In August, a team assembled from Texas, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada converged upon an area in the Dixie National Forest that contains several lava tube caves. Bioinventories were conducted at several of the caves over about a weeks’ time, and these collections appear to contain several new species, as detailed in the final report to the Forest Service. The Subterranean Ecology Institute provided significant support for this research.

For ten weeks in the summer of 2018, two Colorado College undergraduate researchers conducted a survey of groundwater invertebrates across the Colorado Rockies, sampling hyporheic habitats and a few caves. While most of this work was supported by Colorado College, the Subterranean Ecology Institute also provided supplies, equipment, and miscellaneous expense coverage for the project. Over the course of their research project, the students, Carly Bonwell & Jenna McDonald, collected about 150 quantitative groundwater samples with measurements of water parameters and collections of invertebrates. Preliminary sorting and analyses revealed the presence of at least two new species of groundwater crustaceans.

In March 2018, a team of cave biologists converged on the Big Island of Hawai’i, where they conducted biological surveys of lava tubes with the help of local cavers. This work builds on previous expeditions, but was the first trip supported by a grant from the Cave Conservancy Foundation.

The Subterranean Ecology Institute is administering a grant led by Principal Investigators Dr. Megan Porter (University of Hawai’i at Manoa), Dr. Christy Slay (University of Arkansas), and Mike Slay (The Nature Conservancy) for a project titled “Biodiversity, Biogeography, and Conservation of Unique Hawaiian Island Cave Communities.” This project, funded by the Cave Conservancy Foundation, seeks to: 1) identify locations of rare, endemic, and common cave fauna to inform land managers for decision making; 2) document these species’ baselines prior to the impact of the fungal disease rapid ‘Ohi’a death and communicate these baselines land managers; 3) deposit specimens and publish a catalog of cave specimens in partnership with the Bishop Museum; and 4) publish a Hawai’i cave life pictorial guide. The project proposes bioinventories and limited specimen collections for lava tubes found mainly in the Ka’u district of Hawai’i Island.

The Subterranean Ecology Institute is proud to have administered funds for the biennial international meeting of biospeleologsits, which took place in Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA on 13-17 June 2016. Details are available on the website for the conference.

Subterranean Ecology Institute is receiving funds from the Cave Conservancy Foundation which will allow a team of cave biologists, the Stygobromus Working Group (SWG), led by project PIs Mike Slay, Megan Porter and Matt Niemiller to expand conservation efforts in the Ozarks karst region. Targeting Ozark subterranean amphipod species, the SWG biologists will obtain specimens which will serve as morphological and molecular reference material for systematic studies. Additional, the research team will conduct conservation assessments for each Ozark Stygobromus species to highlight species and populations of greatest conservation concern, and to ascertain threats and factors associated with extinction risk. A further benefit of the project will be the opportunities made available to train scientists, resource managers, and other interested parties in skills needed for identification of cave-adapted amphipods.

The Subterranean Ecology Institute is providing support for the upcoming 23rd International Conference on Subterranean Biology to be held in Fayetteville, Arkansas (USA) on 13-17 June 2016. Check it out!

The Subterranean Ecology Institute has accepted the resignation of Board Treasurer and founding Board Member Ira Taylor. In addition to serving on the Board, Ira has been a generous supporter of the organization. We are deeply grateful for his wisdom and support during our first few years as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit. We hope to continue to benefit from his guidance moving into the future.

Filling the vacancy left by Ira’s retirement, the Subterranean Ecology Institute is pleased to announce that Dr. Matt Niemiller has accepted our offer to serve on the Board. Matt brings a strong background in subterranean ecology, and is sure to help us move forward into the future.