This study is intended as an overall assessment of the taxonomic composition and diversity of the invertebrate and vertebrate cave fauna of mainland Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island and southern New Brunswick, together with a preliminary description of the ecology of the caves and mines. It is based on miscellaneous qualitative collections and ecological field records made over many years, complemented by a more representative survey in Nova Scotia in 1997. Terrestrial fauna was sampled by hand-collecting, baited pitfall traps, and Tullgren extractions of dung, litter and soil samples: aquatic fauna was taken by dip-nets, giant pipettes, sieves and kick sampling. Field notes were made of habitat, substrate, faunal associations, temperature and other environmental conditions. The stage of decomposition of porcupine dung was estimated using visual appearance, as described below. Specimens were killed, fixed and preserved using standard museum techniques and distributed to appropriate specialist taxonomists for identification. Voucher specimens are deposited in the collections of the Nova Scotia Museum and/ or retained by the relevant taxonomist. Published records, and unpublished records solicited from other workers, are incorporated into the text and tables.
There are faunal records (i.e. at least one taxon determined to genus or species) from a total of 26 natural caves and 11 abandoned mines and other artificial tunnels in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Study sites were distributed throughout the geographical area of investigation in order to obtain representative taxonomic coverage, although field work emphasized sites proximate to Halifax, and some collections were made in all seasons. The approximate locations of study sites are shown in Fig. 1, and a list follows:
NOVA SCOTIA: Black Brook Cave (BB), Cave-ofthe- Bats (CB), Lake Charlotte Gold Mine (LCM), Tunnels, York Redoubt (YRT), Gays River Gold Mine (GRM) [Halifax Co.]; Hayes Cave (HC), Woodville Ice Cave (WIC), Frenchman’s Cave (FC), Frenchman’s II (F2), Weir Brook Cave (WB), Minasville Ice Cave (MIC), Miller’s Creek Cave (MC), Cheverie Cave (CC), The Honeycombs (TH), Peddlar’s Tunnel (PT), Centre Rawdon Gold Mine (CRM), Walton Barite Mine (WBM) [Hants Co.]; Vault Cave (VC) [Kings Co.]; McLellan Brook Cave (MB), New Laing, adit # 1 (NL1), New Laing, adit # 3 (NL3) [Pictou Co.]; Diogenes Cave (DC); Mabou Cave (MCI) [Inverness Co.]; Fairy Hole II (FH2) [Victoria Co.]; Hirschfield Galena Prospect (HGP) [Guysborough Co.]; The Ovens (OV) [Lunenberg Co.]; Lear Shaft (LSH) [Colchester Co.].
NEW BRUNSWICK: Dalling’s Cave (DL), Glebe Mine (GM), Glebe Pot (GP), Kitt’s Cave (KC) [Kings Co.]; Greenhead Cave (GR), Howes Cave (HO), Harbell’s Cave (HB) [St. John Co.]; Hillsborough Bat Cave (BC), Underground Lake (UL), Turtle Creek Cave (TC) [Albert Co.].
Descriptions and/or maps of the more important caves may be found in Moseley (1976, 1996) and Arsenault et al. (1997). For convenience collection sites are referred to hereinafter by their alphanumeric codes, as given above.
Taxa were categorized using the widely recognized Schiner-Racovitza categories of troglobite, troglophile, and habitual trogloxene for cavernicolous forms and accidental for strays and animals brought into the cave by floods and other chance events. The ecological status of taxa found underground is empirically difficult to determine and some decisions made about the status of those in this study are tentative. Taxa were assessed based on such evidence as the frequency of records from subterranean collecting sites and occurrence records of juveniles or larvae. Repeated long-term observations of a species from the same cave or mine and multiple collections from different sites are particularly valuable (Moseley, 1998). The known bionomics of a species elsewhere is also useful. All animals that are regularly found underground including threshold dwellers and guanophiles (see Discussion) are herein regarded as cavernicolous.
Sampling was not comprehensive enough to satisfactorily map geographical distribution or accurately ascertain seasonal occurrence of most cave-occurring taxa within the study area. In this report threshold means that zone within a cave entrance where there is sufficient light to support vascular green plants, deep threshold means the low light area beyond the inner limit of the threshold and dark zone that part of the cave permanently in absolute darkness.
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