Troglofauna

Troglofauna adaptations and characteristics include a heightened sense of hearing, touch and smell.

Humidity in such caves is generally high ranging from 95 to 100 percent; evaporation rates are low.

Finally, the deep cave zone is completely dark, relatively stable, and exhibits no evaporation.

Francis G. Howarth hypothesized on adaptations troglofauna have made to exist in the cave environment, postulating that troglofauna "have lost many of the water conservation mechanisms of surface relatives, and more nearly resemble permanently aquatic arthropods in water balance mechanisms, including cuticular permeability.

[3] Consequently, troglofauna habitat and food availability can be very disjunct and precluding a great range in diversity across the landscape.

Many caves remain undiscovered due to lack of visible entrances and more habitat exists in fissures, vugs and other spaces above the watertable.

In Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks of Sierra Nevada mountains, California, scientists recently discovered 255 new caves, and 30 undescribed invertebrate species – "an extraordinary number for such a small area".

Many troglofaunal species are likely to be sensitive to changes in their environment and floods, which can accompany a drop in temperature that may adversely affect some animals.

Mismanagement of contaminants (e.g. pesticides and sewage) may poison troglofaunal communities,[6] whilst removal of habitat, either directly or indirectly (e.g. rising watertable) is also a major threat.