Animals in Groundwater

Abstract

Groundwater is one of our most important resources and also a sensitive and rarely explored ecosystem, home to many specialized animals. Groundwater animals are essential for purification of water, and they have adapted to the stable living conditions in groundwater over millions of years. The biocoenosis depends on the input of food and oxygen from the earth’s surface. Using groundwater communities as indicators, it’s possible to estimate hydrological exchange. The occurrence of fauna is mainly effected by local factors, but also by bio-geographical and regional effects. Groundwater animals respond quickly to changes in living conditions and are therefore suited as bioindicators.