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2008 Federal Duck Stamp Contest 2008 Federal Duck Stamp Contest Phone: 812-273-0783 |
KARST Big Oaks NWR contains at least 32 caves. All caves are closed to the public. |
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The caves, seeps and springs on the refuge are unique for their invertebrate fauna. During a recent survey of the caves and wells on the refuge, Dr. Julian Lewis discovered 6 species of invertebrates believed to be new-to-science. The full text of his report minus figures can be found here. |
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Big Oaks NWR is now in the process of having species new-to-science described in order to better understand their relationships to other cave invertebrates. For a preliminary report on these species go here. |
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Despite the fact that Big Oaks NWR has large numbers of bats within forested areas of the refuge during the summer, the caves on the refuge do not contain significant numbers of hibernating bats. This is likely due to the small size of the caves and to inadequate temperatures and humidity within the caves. |
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Refuge staff have placed dataloggers within several of the caves and immediately outside of the caves. Dataloggers monitor temperature and humidity in the cave and comparisons can be made to the corresponding outside temperature and humidity. Staff will compare temperature and humidity data in caves that contain small numbers of bats with those without bats. Temperature and humidity will also be used when comparing invertebrate populations between caves. |
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KARST RELATED LINKS
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