Karst environments are characterized by distinctive landforms related to dissolution and a
dominant subsurface drainage. The direct connection between the surface and the …

Ecosystem services are the benefits obtained from the environment that increase human
well‐being. Economic valuation is conducted by measuring the human welfare gains or …

Species traits are an essential currency in ecology, evolution, biogeography, and
conservation biology. However, trait databases are unavailable for most organisms …

Adaptation to life in caves is often accompanied by dramatically convergent changes across
distantly related taxa, epitomized by the loss or reduction of eyes and pigmentation …

Our daily life depends on many services delivered by the planet's ecosystems. Groundwater
ecosystems deliver services that are of immense societal and economic value, such as: 1) …

Periodic food shortages are a major challenge faced by organisms in natural habitats. Cave-
dwelling animals must withstand long periods of nutrient deprivation, as—in the absence of …

Geodiversity—the variability of Earth's surface materials, forms, and physical processes—is
an integral part of nature and crucial for sustaining ecosystems and their services. It provides …

The drivers underlying the development of deep root systems, whether genetic or
environmental, are poorly understood but evidence has accumulated that deep rooting …

Five decades ago, a landmark paper in Science titled The Cave Environment heralded
caves as ideal natural experimental laboratories in which to develop and address general …

Laboratory studies have demonstrated that a single phenotype can be produced by many
different genotypes; however, in natural systems, it is frequently found that phenotypic …