Groundwater invertebrate communities in karst landscapes are known to vary in response to multiple environmental factors. This study aims to explore the invertebrate assemblages’ composition of an Apennine karst system in Italy mainly described by the Rio Gamberale surface stream and the Stiffe Cave. The stream sinks into the carbonate rock and predominantly feeds the saturated karst into the cave. For a minor portion, groundwater flows from the epikarst and the perched aquifer within it. The spatial distribution of the species belonging to the selected target group of the Crustacea Copepoda between the surface stream and the groundwater habitats inside the cave highlighted a different response of surface-water species and obligate groundwater dwellers to the hydrogeological traits of the karst unit. Our results suggest that fast endorheic infiltration routes promoted the drift of epigean species from the surface to groundwater via the sinking stream while most of the obligate groundwater dwellers come from the perched aquifer in the epikarst from diffuse infiltration pathways.

中文翻译：

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将喀斯特景观中的水文地质学和生态学联系起来：表皮层和专性地下水桡足类（甲壳类：桡足类）的反应

已知喀斯特景观中的地下水无脊椎动物群落因多种环境因素而异。本研究旨在探索意大利亚平宁岩溶系统的无脊椎动物组合组成，主要由 Rio Gamberale 地表溪流和 Stiffe Cave 描述。溪流沉入碳酸盐岩中，主要将饱和岩溶送入洞穴。对于一小部分，地下水从表层岩溶和其中的栖息含水层流出。属于桡足类甲壳纲选定目标群的物种在地表溪流和洞穴内地下水栖息地之间的空间分布突出了地表水物种和地下水居民对岩溶单元水文地质特征的不同反应。