Lampenflora
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Lampenflora refers to all autotrophic life present in natural or artificial caves associated with permanently installed lighting.
The term "lampenflora" has come to English from German. It was coined by botanist Klaus Dobat in the 1960s[1], and just means "lamp flora".
Types of lampenflora
So far the following types of lampenflora have been described:
- algae – Chlorophyceae, golden algae (Chrysophyceae), diatoms (Bacillariophyceae), Cyanophyceae[2]
- non-vascular plants – Marchantiophyta (Marchantiophyta), moss (Bryophytha)[2]
- ferns – Species of the genera Spleenworts (Asplenium), bladderferns (Cystopteris), maidenhair ferns (Adiantum), etc.[2]
- flowering plants – alternate-leaved golden-saxifrage (Chrysosplenium alternifolium)[3]; black elder (Sambucus nigra) from the moschatel (Adoxaceae) family has been growing since in the Lurgrotte[4] near Peggau in Styria.
Fungi and roots growing into caves, as well as plants growing in naturally illuminated areas, are not lampenflora.
Development
The requirements for the development of lampenflora are sufficient (artificial) light and moisture. An increase in nutrient content(e.g. fertilizer usage on land above the cave) or heat(e.g. incandescent lighting) may lead to an increase in lampenflora. The germs, seeds or spores can get brought into the cave by air, water, animals or people.[5]
In the aphotic(lightless) part of caves, short-term growth of photosyntetic plants is possible thanks to the seed's nutritive tissue. After this is consumed, the plant dies.
Lampenflora as a problem
Lampenflora can cause various problems: Since lampenflora changes the appearance of show caves, it can give visitors wrong impressions of natural caves. It does not exist in caves not developed for humans. The weak acids excreted by lampenflora can also cause damage to and change limestone and other rocks.<ref name="Johnson"> Lampenflora is especially dangerous to artifacts present in caves, such as cave paintings[5]. The appearance of algae was one of the reasons the Lascaux cave was closed to the public. Plants can also upset cave ecology.
Reduction of lampenflora
There are several methods for reducing lampenflora. A lot of measures involve changing lighting in caves, such as lighting which only activates when people are nearby, led lighting which produces less heat, and placing lighting further away from surfaces. Reducing red and blue light in favor of yellow light can also help, but generally makes caves less visually appealing and can make certain structures less visible. Even with special lighting certain algae species can still appear.[5]
Lampenflora can also be periodically removed either physically or chemically. The use of phytotoxic compounds must take into account the integrity of the ecology both inside and outside the cave, and the health of visitors and cave guides.[2]
References
- ↑ Klaus Dobat (1963): "Höhlenalgen" bedrohen die Eiszeitmalereien von Lascaux – Die Höhle
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Karl Johnson: CONTROL OF LAMPENFLORA AT WAITOMO CAVES. NEW ZEALAND Archived 2021-07-11 at the Wayback Machine, 1977
- ↑ U. Passauer: Chrysosplenium alternifolium L. in der Lurgrotte – erstmals eine Blütenpflanze in einer „Lampenflora“ (PDF; 1,2 MB)
- ↑ [1] Archived 2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine"Website Lurgrotte". Archived from the original on 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2017-07-02.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lampenflora in show caves Archived 2022-01-21 at the Wayback Machine, 2017
External links
- Everything you need to know about LAMPENFLORA Archived 2022-05-28 at the Wayback Machine
- Down with lampenflora
Category:Plants Category:Plants and humans Category:Caves Category:Cave organisms Category:Artificial ecosystems Category:Lighting Category:Plants by location
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