This year, 2021, is the International Year of Caves and Karst, so I'll give an overview of the lesser-known geographical feature of Karst.
Around a fifth of the world's land is Karst, which simply means terrain underpinned by limestone (a soft, chalky rock, susceptible to water erosion). When the limestone erodes, (wet and dry) caves and sinkholes form. It also gives rise to rocky, barren land with distinctive, upright towers of rock formations. Slovenia's Karst Plateau is the classic example of a Karst rocky land which scientists used to describe and define this phenomenon. Because Karst terrain is inaccessible to people, it allows endangered species to escape from human interference and find safety there, for instance, by living in caves. These species live in a very small area so any drastic human action e.g. quarrying in their specific, local region can mean the end of a species.
Conservationists are not by and large that interested in Karst areas so it's great that the FFI (Fauna and Flora International) have taken it on board as a vital environmental issue. Karst regions are rich in biodiversity, much of which is still undiscovered which is exciting because it means we may even discover new species! 🙂👍 The species we do know about at the moment are e.g. primates🐵such as the Tonkin Snub-nosed monkey; the Caovit Gibbon (rediscovered in 2002 By FFI scientists after it was thought that they had become extinct); the Delacour's Langur (a folivorous monkey endangered by mining activities for cement). They also eat fruit, flowers and bark and are considered one of the most, if not the most, endangered primate. All three of these species live in Vietnam. Other interesting animals are bat-eating snakes, ghost snails, blind cave crickets, Kanthan Cave trapdoor spider as well as various bird species and 100's of types of plants.
Myanmar also has a Karst terrain where the newly discovered (in 2016) 15 species of Gecko have their microhabitat. Geckos are reptiles with lovely bright colouring. Some species of Geckos are bred in captivity and it's these that are popular pets and come small in size (under a foot long) and are relatively easy to care for at home. But they can be very aggressive, quick and bite hard. They have very small teeth but their jaw locks around your finger in a vice grip, and the teeth sink into your flesh, drawing quite a lot of blood. So I'm not going to get one as a pet! 😟 Here's a photo of a Gecko (📷 public domain):
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Cyrtodactylus_phongnhakebangensis.jpg
I found This video on YouTube which I think is really good at helping to envisage what a Karst region looks like! It's not a short video but it's very informative - don't be put off by the chemistry at the beginning, there are great photos and video clips too! 🙂
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XMgattdqc_I
Comments
Post a Comment