Fungi isolated from Niedźwiedzia Cave in Kletno (Lower Silesia, Poland)

Abstract

Niedźwiedzia Cave is the most beautiful cave in Poland, discovered in a block of Cambrian marbles. It is the most important part of the reserve established in 1977. The cave is located within the Kłodzko Valley, in Śnieżnik Mt. Massif, in Kleśnica Stream Valley and was discovered in 1966 while working in a quarry. The study aimed at first mycological evaluation of the air and the rocks in Niedźwiedzia Cave. Nine species of filamentous fungi and a yeast species were isolated from the air sampled in the cave, whereas from the rocks - nine species of filamentous fungi and two species of yeasts were collected. Rhizopus stolonifer was the species most frequently isolated from the air and from the rocks, while the least isolated from the air was Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Among the species found in the rock, the least frequently collected were Fusarium oxysporum and the yeast Rhodotorula rubra.