Abstract:

Escherichia coli and other bacteria can be used as indicators of water quality within a cave ecosystem. However, bacterial species within caves have not been thoroughly documented, especially in the southeastern United States. Water from isolated pools was gathered along transects from six caves in northern Alabama and northwestern Georgia. We used cultivation techniques to isolate and characterize bacteria. Diversity of coliforms and some environmental genera were determined for each cave, and abundance was determined for E. coli and other coliforms. Distance from the entrance in most caves did not statistically correlate with abundance or species richness of bacteria. A total of fifty bacterial species and one fungal species were isolated from the six caves, with over half of these species considered potentially pathogenic in humans. Some species isolated, such as Vibrio alginolyticus and V. fluvialis, are considered primarily marine and are not expected isolates of cave waters. Most of the species we isolated have never been reported from limestone cave ecosystems. Overall, coliforms were found in all tested caves, indicating fecal contamination of all six caves.