Unveiling ecosystem dynamics of groundwaters

Much of the assessment of subterranean fauna has focused on identifying species and describing their distributions. Less is known about how groundwater communities function, how organisms interact, and how changes in groundwater conditions affect these relationships.

This project takes a multidisciplinary approach, combining hydrogeochemical assessments – including isotopes, nutrients and fluorescence analysis – with molecular techniques such as DNA metabarcoding and genomics. Researchers are investigating microbial and stygofaunal communities across different groundwater environments to better understand their ecological roles and interactions.

By linking groundwater conditions with biological responses, the project aims to improve understanding of how subterranean ecosystems function and respond to environmental change. It also examines connections between groundwater ecosystems and surface environments, including wetlands and vegetation.

The research is intended to support empirically based approaches for assessing the functional health of groundwater ecosystems, including improved ecological status indicators and a more holistic framework for studying groundwater environments. These insights can strengthen future assessment and monitoring by considering ecosystem function alongside species presence and distribution.