Publication details
Impact of “parasitic phenomena” on the microclimate of the show caves: A case study from the Balcarka Cave (Moravian Karst, Czech Republic)
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| Year of publication | 2026 |
| Type | Requested lectures |
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| Description | In addition to popular tourist destinations, show caves are also frequently used for cultural events, therapeutic purposes, and/or scientific research. Therefore, effective protection of caves is a classical karst problem that has been solved continuously for several decades. The anthropogenic impact in the show caves was documented by many studies focused on various microclimatic parameters; however, the main indicator is generally considered to be carbon dioxide (CO2), because anthropogenic CO2 contributes to the total cave CO2 level by the net positive flux derived from visitor exhalation. In principle, instantaneous cave CO2 is given by the balance of input and output CO2 fluxes. Whereas the input fluxes are associated with soil/epikarstic sources, the output fluxes are controlled by cave airflow. In this context, visitors can induce the “parasitic phenomena” that affect cave ventilation and disturb or even inverse the expected CO2 increases. Two examples of these phenomena, (i) the visitor movement in low-profile passages and (ii) the opening of the doors that close the cave or its individual passages, were studied in the Balcarka Cave (Czech Republic) and the results were presented in Acta Carsologica (44/1, 71–80) and the International Journal of Speleology (46/3, 345–358). The study of visitor movement showed that anthropogenically induced airflows exceeded natural airflows by a factor of more than 60. These airflows caused a switch of actual ventilation mode and a significant drop in CO2 fluxes/levels. The effect of door opening differed with ventilation modes. Under upward airflow, an increase in output advective CO2 fluxes from the cave was evident with a decrease of CO2 levels near the cave entrance, but deeper in the cave, this effect was suppressed. Under downward airflows, changes in airflow paths resulted in an increase in CO2 level in the entrance passages, but a decrease in the deeper passages. |