Floor Plan, environment, and fauna of Tamana Caves

Abstract

Cave systems are of special interest to ecologists because it is relatively easy to measure basic energy inputs and to trace movement of energy through the various elements forming the fauna of the particular system. Trinidad does not have many cave systems and while the few in the Northern Range may be comparatively extensive, they are biologically somewhat uninteresting. There is one cave in Trinidad which has occupied the attention of scientists both at the University of the West Indies and at the Trinidad Regional Virus Laboratory for some time. The Tamana cave system consists of two separate caves of which one has been the site of a study on trophic relationships and energy flow in guano communities. This paper reports on certain related ecological work which had to be done in support of the main studies.