Habitat fragmentation and its effects on groundwater populations

ABSTRACT The subterranean unsaturated zone of the karstic areas is highly fragmented. The maze of more or less connected voids harbors simple communities of mixed surface and subterranean species, especially crustaceans. Hypogean species are dominant in almost all communities of the seven stations sampled monthly in a cave of the north‐western Romania. Water stable isotopes and drip rates were used to understand the morphological and spatial organization of the subterranean habitats in the unsaturated zone. The structure of the cave communities, the species synchrony and the spatial structure and variation of communities at different geographical levels are discussed in conservation terms. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.