Jama Velika Pasica = The Cave Velika Pasica Zgodovina, okolje in življenje v njej = History, Environment and Life in It

• Main Author: Brancelj, Anton (auth)
• Format: Electronic Book Chapter
• Language: English; Slovenian
• Published: Ljubljana ZRC SAZU, Založba ZRC 2015
• Subjects: Slovenia; Limnology (freshwater); biospeleology; cave animals; Gornji Ig; karst caves; speleology; Velika Pasica; biospeleologija; jamske živali; kraške jame; speleologija
• Online Access: DOAB: download the publication; DOAB: description of the publication

This bilingual scientific monograph with many illustrations presents the Velika Pasica cave, located on the outskirts of the Gornji Ig village on the Krim massif, around 20 km south of Ljubljana, Slovenia. The book presents ecological, taxonomical and biodiversity studies, as well as morphological and historical facts referring to the cave. The cave is small for Slovenian standards, as it is only 105 metres long. On the basis of the specimens collected in the cave, 13 new species from terrestrial and aquatic habitats have been described so far. A considerable number, even on the global scale. The cave was first renowned for the rare cave-dwelling beetles, snails as well as other species. In 2000, a rich community of aquatic animals was discovered, which were not expected to be present there. Since 2006, there have been regular measurements of ecological parameters as well as sampling of fauna from four permanent drips. Fauna was washed-out from a thin layer of dolomite, from which the cave roof consists. The measurements include water and air temperature as well as discharge, measured in one hour intervals. Furthermore, 88 analyses of drip water and an equal number of fauna sampling were conducted. The measurements in the cave were being conducted simultaneously with the measurements of the meteorological parameters on the surface, in the immediate vicinity of the cave entrance.

Dvojezična, bogato ilustrirana znanstvena monografija je prikaz jame Velika Pasica na Gornjem Igu, na pobočju Krima. V knjigi so poleg nekaterih morfoloških in zgodovinsko zanimivih podrobnosti predstavljene zlasti ekološke, taksonomske in biodiverzitetne študije. Jama je za slovenske razmere majhna, saj je dolga le 105 m. Na podlagi primerkov iz te jame je bilo doslej opisanih kar 13 novih vrst kopenskih in vodnih podzemnih živali, kar je izjemno tudi v svetovnem merilu. Jama je bila najprej poznana kot nahajališče redkih vrst jamskih hroščev in polžev, kasneje pa tudi drugih vrst. Leta 2000 je bila v jami odkrita bogata združba vodnih živali, ki jih tam ne bi pričakovali. Od leta 2006 v jami potekajo redne meritve ekoloških razmer in odvzem bioloških vzorcev iz štirih curkov vode, ki prenikajo iz tanke plasti v jamskem stropu. Meritve obsegajo temperaturo vode in zraka in pretok, in sicer v enournih intervalih, narejenih pa je bilo tudi 88 analiz prenikle vode in bilo odvzeto prav toliko vzorcev vodnih živali. Meritve v jami so potekale vzporedno z meritvami meteoroloških razmer na površju, v neposredni bližini jamskega vhoda.