Table 1.
Cave depths and plant species found at depth and the characteristics of the surface vegetation
| Cave | Depth, m | Species identified by ITS from roots | Surface vegetation by species (density of stems, m−2; average basal area, m2 per stem)
|
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtis laevigata | Juniperus ashei | Quercus fusiformis | Quercus sinuata | Ulmus crassifolia | Other species | |||
| District Park Cave | 5 | Q. fusiformis | 0.05, 0.011 | 0.07, 0.068 | ||||
| Seven Room Cave | 5 | U. crassifolia | 0.032, 0.069 | 0.008, 0.078 | ||||
| Pearson’s Lost Cave | 6 | C. laevigata | 0.02, 0.008 | 0.09, 0.012 | ||||
| J. ashei | ||||||||
| Spyglass Cave | 6 | Q. fusiformis | 0.01, 0.045 | 0.06, 0.021 | 0.012, 0.02 | |||
| Cotterell Cave | 7 | J. ashei | 0.01, 0.008 | 0.08, 0.025 | 0.04, 0.015 | |||
| Q. sinuata | ||||||||
| Mystery Hole | 7 | U. crassifolia | 0.07, 0.008 | 0.01, 0.05 | ||||
| Sour Cave | 7 | Ulmus americana | 0.06, 0.007 | 0.01, 0.49 U. americana | ||||
| Turtle Shell Cave | 8 | J. ashei | 0.09, 0.009 | 0.02, 0.11 | 0.005, 0.47 | |||
| Q. fusiformis | ||||||||
| Cave of Many Names | 9 | U. crassifolia | 0.087, 0.008 | 0.027, 0.053 | ||||
| Natural Bridge (south cave) | 9 | Q. fusiformis | 0.005, 0.024 | 0.025, 0.061 | 0.02, 0.022 | |||
| Sweet Cave | 11 | Q. fusiformis | 0.053, 0.004 | 0.013, 0.051 | 0.007, 0.11 | |||
| Cicurina Cave | 14 | Q. fusiformis | 0.001, 0.010 | 0.013, 0.005 | 0.008, 0.048 | 0.004, 0.021 | 0.001, 0.088 | 0.001, 0.15 Carya illinoiensis |
| 0.002, 0.17 Quercus stellata | ||||||||
| Powell’s Cave | 18 | Q. fusiformis | 0.005, 0.053 | 0.006, 0.17 | 0.002, 0.019 | 0.006, 0.017 Prosopis glandulosa | ||
| 0.006, 0.010 Bumelia lanuginosa | ||||||||
| HoneyCreek Cave | 22 | Q. fusiformis | unknown | |||||
| Cave Without A Name | 28 | None | 0.04, 0.005 | 0.06, 0.067 | ||||
| Bracken Bat Cave | 31 | None | 0.018, 0.028 | 0.005, 0.18 | 0.008, 0.016 | |||
| Gorman Cave | 41 | None | 0.01, 0.03 | 0.04, 0.01 | 0.01, 0.05 | 0.005, 0.02 | 0.025, 0.06 | |
| HoneyCreek Cave | 44 | None | 0.02, 0.06 | |||||
| Natural Bridge (north cave) | 65 | None | 0.036, 0.022 | 0.042, 0.02 | 0.005, 0.003 | |||
The table lists the name and depth of caves sampled in Texas, the plant species found in them, and the surface vegetation above the caves [density of stems (m−2) and average basal area for each species (m2 per stem)]. The methods for identifying roots by using internal transcriber spacer (ITS) analysis and for describing the surface vegetation are found in Methods. Cave depths were obtained from maps of the Texas Speleological Survey. The locations of the caves are District Park, 30°12′82" N, 97°51′78"W; Seven Room, 30°40′24" N, 97°141′44" W; Pearson’s Lost, 31°02′66" N, 98°29′37" W; Spyglass, 30°15′40 N, 97°47′46" W; Cotterrell, 30°22′16" N; 97°45′79" W; Mystery Hole, 31°01′79" N; 98°30′38" W; Sour, 31°02′36" N, 98°28′80" W; Turtle Shell, 31°02′53" N, 98°28′83" W; Cave of Many Names, 31°02′52" N; 98°30′31" W; Natural Bridge (south), 29°41′52" N, 98°20′50" W; Sweet, 31°02′37" N, 98°28′85" W; Cicurina, 31°02′83" N, 98°30′25" W; Powell’s, 30°55′69" N, 99°54′93" W; Cave Without A Name, 29°53′16" N, 98°37′02" W; Bracken, 29°41′20" N, 98°21′15" W; Gorman, 31°03′00" N, 98°28′19" W; Honey Creek, 29°50′12" N, 98°31′15" W; and Natural Bridge (north), 29°41′52" N; 98°20′50" W. Honey Creek Cave appears twice in the table, because it was sampled twice, approximately 1 km in distance apart.