Caves and Cave Life. Philip Chapman

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СКАЧАТЬ to be made as much by talented amateur observers as by trained professional scientists, and we owe much of our present knowledge of the faunas of British caves to the work of a handful of exceptionally dedicated amateur naturalists. The central figures of the group were Brigadier E.A. (Aubrey) Glennie and his niece Mary Hazelton, who in 1938 began making systematic collections in the caves of Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Mendip. Glennie, an excellent all-round naturalist, picked up his interest in cave life while serving in India, where among other things, he published a study on the nesting behaviour of Himalayan Swiftlets in caves. On his retirement in 1946, he became a driving force in the biological work of the newly formed Cave Research Group, and was soon recognized as an authority on British hypogean amphipods. Hazelton assumed the mantle of Biological Recorder to the CRG, and for the next 29 years diligently co-ordinated the identification of collections submitted by fellow cavers and compiled the results for publication, first in the Transactions of the Cave Research Group and later of the British Cave Research Association. Among the most notable contributors to the faunal collections of this period were Jean Dixon of the Northern Cavern & Mine Research Society and W.G.R. Maxwell of Chelsea Speleological Society.

      The 1950s saw the appearance on the scene of two particularly influential figures, both professional biologists. One was Dr Anne Mason-Williams, a microbiologist whose pioneering studies on the microflora of South Wales caves remains the definitive work in this field. The other was Dr G.T. ‘Jeff’ Jefferson, a lecturer in zoology at University College, Cardiff, who quickly established himself as the leading authority on British cave faunas and went on to become president of the British Cave Research Association, and a greatly respected ambassador for speleology in Britain. Jefferson’s major contribution to cave science in Britain before his untimely death in 1986, was in shaping the wealth of observation gathered by his amateur predecessors into a coherent picture of the biogeographical history and ecological relationships of our cave fauna. It is his work above all that has provided the inspiration for this book.

      Non-cavers are fond of asking cavers why they venture underground. The usual answer is along the lines that “caving is good fun”. Many would add that caving is most fun when spiced with the excitement of discovery. For the sporting caver, this means finding a way into previously unvisited passages, or whole new cave systems. For the speleologist there is the further excitement of recording new observations and of gaining fresh insights into the history, development, or life of the cave. The discipline of cave biology remains poorly developed in Britain and Ireland, affording tremendous scope for discoveries of all sorts by amateur as well as professional naturalists.

      Driving curiosity and a sense of wonder are perhaps the two features which above all unite the caver and the naturalist. I hope that this book can make the passion of the one intelligible to the other, and so enhance the experience of both.

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