Download eye in darkness10/22/2023 ![]() ![]() In the absence of autotrophy, the amount and variety of resources are usually low and irregular. Although certain caves hosting large bats colonies are food-rich (guano-rich), most cave communities rely on food transported in from the surface. Among the physicochemical properties of cave environments, the most striking is the complete absence of sunlight, which means no photosynthesis and therefore the absence of primary producers (plants, algae, and bacteria) relying on it. This is a huge underground world that is poorly known, in particular the diversity of life it contains. For example, in the US alone nearly 50,000 caves are known, and it has been estimated that there are 521,000 km 3 of subsurface cavities, most of these containing water. Actually, more than 94% of the world’s unfrozen freshwater is stored underground. North America and Eurasia are especially rich in cave-bearing rocks. ![]() Water- and air-filled cavities are abundant in all continents but Antarctica. ![]()
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