Cave Cricket Monitoring at Mammoth Cave National Park (MACA) by the Cumberland Piedmont Network (CUPN): 2015-2024 — Data Package
Helf KL , Shepherd T, Quevedo IA . 2026. Cave Cricket Monitoring at Mammoth Cave National Park (MACA) by the Cumberland Piedmont Network (CUPN): 2015-2024 — Data Package. National Park Service. Fort Collins CO https://doi.org/10.57830/2316856
This data package contains data from the monitoring of cave cricket entrance populations inhabiting 15 selected cave entrances within Mammoth Cave National Park (MACA). Under our sampling design, data are collected twice per year. Our method takes advantage of cave crickets' tendency to roost in clusters and consists of taking digital images of clusters, intersected by randomly located 10cm wide strips, perpendicular to a transect extending the length of the cave entrance. Analysis of the digital images yields count data, which enable us to estimate the total cave cricket entrance population size at a given cave entrance. Our sampling design automatically partitions cave cricket entrance population size into components of cluster size and numbers of clusters, which will be used to assess temporal changes in population size and habitat use within and between developed and undeveloped cave entrances. Meteorological data are collected from local subsurface and surface habitats. Cave meteorological data are collected using handheld sensors to measure cave air temperature, relative humidity, and air flow at roosting clusters.
- Type
- Data Package
- Authors
- Helf, Kurt; Shepherd, Tim; Quevedo, Issac
- Date of Issue
- 2026-06-11
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- DOI
- 10.57830/2316856
- Units
- CUPN , MACA
- Keywords
- cave, cave cricket, cave entrance population, cave monitoring, demography, Hadenoecus subterraneus, insects, invertebrates, karst ecology, keystone species, long term monitoring, macroinvertebrates, nutrient subsidy, Orthoptera, population dynamics, population structure, species abundance, strip adaptive cluster sampling, subterranean habitat, troglobite, troglofauna
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Cave Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Terrestrial Invertebrates , Ecological Framework: Landscapes | Nutrient Dynamics | Nutrient Dynamics , NPS.gov Subject Site: Caves and Karst , NPS.gov Subject Site: Insects & Invertebrates
- License
- Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal