Departamentul de Taxonomie

Subterranean Biology Lab UBB

Subterranean Biology Lab UBB

Subterranean Biology Lab of the Faculty of Biology and Geology, University Babes Bolyai from Cluj Napoca (Romania) combines cutting-edge research in subterranean ecosystems from Romania and abroad. We work together to generate new knowledge on the biodiversity, ecology and paleoecology of subterranean ecosystems, with a view to contributing to understand the adaptations, colonizations and evolution of different aquatic and terrestrial faunal groups in subterranean realm, as well as their long-term protection and conservation.

We use both theoretical and experimental (in the laboratory, under semi-natural and natural conditions) approaches to study, inter alia:

  • Ecology and biodiversity of subterranean fauna
  • Dynamics of invertebrates in subterranean realm
  • Phenotypic plasticity and evolution of subterranean species’ life-history traits
  • Systematic and taxonomy of crustaceans copepods and ostracods and spiders
  • Physiological adaptations to extreme subterranean environmental conditions
  • Effects of human impact and climate change on subterranean fauna
  • Relationships between biodiversity and the functioning, stability and sustainability of subterranean ecosystems