Subterranean Biology UBB

Exploring stakeholders’ apprehensions and perceptions of subterranean biodiversity monitoring in Europe - Biodiversity and Conservation In an era of biodiversity crisis, monitoring habitats and species is essential to track their changes, understand conservation priorities, and guide management decisions. In the European Union, the Habitats Directive mandates the monitoring of different habitat types. However, the quality and freque...

🌍 The firs summer school in (ISSB) took place between 20 – 27 July 2026 at Ic Ponor . It was an intense week of theory and cave field trips in one of the most emblematic cave systems of Romania, and cave systems in the Apuseni Natural Park.

📌 Participants & lecturers from USA, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia, UK, Romania and Italy shared the knowledge from a diverse range on cave topics: in , lecturer Vasile Ersek Northumbria University (UK), climatology - Virgil Dragusin Institutul de Speologie "Emil Racoviţă" (Ro), cave & - Dan Jones, National Cave and Karst Research Institute NKRI (USA), Cave invertebrates monitoring - Sanda ISanda Iepure Universitatea Babeş-Bolyai (Ro) and cave and karst protection - Zagmasjter from University of Ljubljana CaveBioLab (SLO).

✅ The ISSB course was an specialized training in cave invertebrates (morphology & adaptations traits, subterranean diversity), habitat monitoring and sampling methods, assessment of subterranean biodiversity and the implementation of monitoring protocols for cave-dwelling organisms and their habitats and cave fauna protection & conservation and threats to populations and species.

✅The first edition of the ISSB addressed the current national and international issue to monitor "Caves not open to the public" (code 8310) under Annex I of the EU Habitats Directive, the topic tied to the Sub-BioMon project (2024–2027), an Euro-wide initiative dedicated to developing standardized monitoring methods for subterranean biodiversity.

📣See you next time!

Please join us for the next lecture in our webinar series, The Struggle to Measure Subterranean Biodiversity, presented by Dr. David Culver on July 29 at 7:00 pm central time. You can join us at the link below! And, as always, a recording of the talk will be available on our YouTube Channel if you're unable to join us on the 29!
https://bucknell.zoom.us/j/5041312774

The Commission on Volcanic Caves of the UIS will hold its biennial symposium on volcanic caves in November 2026.

This year's symposium will take place on the island of Tenerife, offering a wonderful opportunity to discover this fascinating branch of speleology. Specialists from around the world will present lectures on the latest research and developments. In addition, participants will have the chance to visit volcanic caves that are normally closed to the public.

Everyone is welcome to register and attend.
For more information please visit:
https://www.vulcanospeleology.org/sym22/22ndsymposia.html