Projects / Programmes
Toward the conservation of the European cave salamander (Proteus anguinus): monitoring guidelines, current status estimation and identification of evolutionarily significant units
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 1.03.00 |
Natural sciences and mathematics |
Biology |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| B005 |
Biomedical sciences |
Zoology |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 1.06 |
Natural Sciences |
Biological sciences |
Natura 2000, monitoring, priority species, habitat directive, conservation genetics, Proteus anguinus, ground water, caves
Researchers (5)
Organisations (2)
Abstract
The European cave salamander, or proteus, is a Slovenian national symbol, endemic to the Dinaric Karst. It is the largest cave animal on our planet and the only European cave vertebrate. A long-living top predator and a charismatic species of karstic underground waters, it is of outstanding ecological and conservational importance. Formally, it is protected as Annex II priority species of the EU Habitat Directive. Its potential role as groundwater quality indicator is formalized with the EU Water Framework Directive. European and Slovenian legislation state that monitoring of species of European conservation concern is an obligation of the government. Until now, Slovenian proteus populations have not been monitored, nor is there any program of monitoring under way. The proteus is an extraordinary animal whose underground populations cannot be studied by conventional biological methods, nor can they be censused directly by counting individuals. What is required are innovative approaches using new technologies, including various molecular and genomic techniques and special methods of detection.
The basic problem is that we wish to conserve a priority species, one of European conservation concern, but at the same time do not know enough about it to do it efficiently. With this project, we wish to overcome this lack of knowledge and set the fundamentals for long-term cost-effective conservation management and monitoring. We shall apply next generation sequencing methods to develop microsatellite markers, estimate population sizes by genetic mark-recapture modelling, develop a monitoring approach using effective population size as key parameter, and estimate the available but unknown habitat by speleogenetic habitat modeling. Project results will include:
- a list of independent lineages that are potential new species; cartographic information on their distribution with an analysis of the overlap with the current NATURA 2000 network;
- a comparative analysis of population genetic parameters and their conservational interpretation;
- population size estimates for selected populations of the above lineages based on mark-recapture modeling;
- an extrapolation of the above estimates and numbers from direct counts to the entire range of each proteus lineage;
- a list of priority sites for conservation based on the following criteria: population size and genetic indicators, importance for the lineage as a whole, potential or actual threats, isolation form other populations;
- specific guidelines for monitoring – parameters to monitor, methods, time intervals, sites, estimation of costs;
- a collection of of methods and tools to support conservation management of proteus populations.
Significance for science
The results of this project represent a decisive breakthrough in the field of systematic, evolutionary and conservation research of one of the most secretive and spectacular animals, the proteus. We have developed field methods to collect DNA samples of a large number of animals in their natural habitat without causing them harm or significant disturbance. With the help of newly developed nuclear genetic markers, we can now analyze the nuclear genome of the proteus, which has long remained inaccessible due to its extraordinary size of over 50 giga base pairs. Exactly 250 years after the scientific taxonomic description of the species Proteus anguinus, we can now report that nine potential independent species are hidden behind the seemingly uniform taxon. The darkly pigmented subspecies is one of them. The results of the project will form the basis for their taxonomic description and naming. We have developed an interdisciplinary approach to determine the extent of underground aquatic habitat along with the population size of its inhabitants. Most of these underground environments are inaccessible to man. Therefore, project collaborators at the Karst Research Institute, assessed the structure and extent of these spaces using mathematical models of karst aquifers fitted with the results of hydraulic measurements. Collaborators from the Department of Biology at the Biotechnical Faculty contributed data on the density of proteus population that were obtained through genetic mark-recapture studies. Together, our preliminary and cautious assessment estimates the that even the largest populations do not exceed the order of magnitude of ten thousand individuals. The methodology used for assesing population sizes in the inaccessible karst underground is entirely novel, and its potential usefulness for similar research by other organisms and elsewhere in the world is high.
Significance for the country
The results of the project have already given fresh impetus to the general interest in proteus, and will consolidate its status as one of Slovenian national symbols. They will also contribute to the promotion of the protection of ground waters in karst areas. New awareness about the endemism of four potential independent species that do not live anywhere else in the world will foster the understanding of the responsibility that Slovenia carries to preserve the proteus as global heritage of all humanity. The information on the uniqueness of the proteus from other karstic areas of Slovenia (besides Postojna Cave) will expand the touristic attractiveness of these areas. The fact that some caves of the Dolenjska region and the underground of Bela krajina have their own, special and different form of underground amphibians, can be used to promote regional tourism and nature conservation. The results of the project have shown that the Planina Cave is globally unique in terms of abundance as well as accessibility of the proteus population it holds. This fact will aid the development of high-quality tourism that with a more controlled impact on the cave environment than under the current regime of visits. The subterranean environment of Planina Cave in the Notranjska region can offer in terms of subterranean biodiversity a similar experience to the visitor as tropical coral reefs in the sea and African savannah on land. With the methodology and protocols developed in the project, and with data on the status and distribution of proteus lineages, governmental nature conservation institutions have received the necessary prerequisites for establishing a monitoring scheme and more efficient conservation planning.
Most important scientific results
Final report
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2015,
final report
