Lampenflora, also known in English as lamp-flora or lamp flora are autotrophic lifeforms present in natural or artificial

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s associated with permanently installed lighting. Lampenflora are a problem with respect to the conservation of cave features, artworks, and fauna, and consequently their presence in caves can be referred to by the terms ''green sickness'' and ''la maladie verte''.

Etymology

The term "lampenflora" has come to English from German. It was coined by botanist Klaus Dobat in the 1960s, and just means "lamp flora".

Taxa found in lampenflora

So far the following types of lampenflora have been described: *

cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, blu ...

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

– ''

Chlorophyceae The Chlorophyceae are one of the classes of green algae, distinguished mainly on the basis of ultrastructural morphology. They are usually green due to the dominance of pigments chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b. The chloroplast may be discoid, p ...

'', golden algae '' (Chrysophyceae)'',

diatom A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group comprising sev ...

s '' (Bacillariophyceae)''Karl Johnson
CONTROL OF LAMPENFLORA AT WAITOMO CAVES. NEW ZEALAND
1977 *

non-vascular plant Non-vascular plants are plants without a vascular system consisting of xylem and phloem. Instead, they may possess simpler tissues that have specialized functions for the internal transport of water. Non-vascular plants include two distantly rel ...

s – Marchantiophyta '' (Marchantiophyta)'',

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

'' (Bryophyta)'' *

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...

s – Species of the genera '' Asplenium'' (spleenworts), ''

Cystopteris ''Cystopteris'' is a genus of ferns in the family Cystopteridaceae. These are known generally as bladderferns or fragile ferns. They grow in temperate areas worldwide. This is a very diverse genus and within a species individuals can look quite ...

'' (bladder ferns), ''

Adiantum ''Adiantum'' (), the maidenhair fern, is a genus of about 250 species of ferns in the subfamily Vittarioideae of the family Pteridaceae, though some researchers place it in its own family, Adiantaceae. The genus name comes from Greek, meaning "un ...

'' (maidenhair ferns), etc. *

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s –

alternate-leaved golden-saxifrage ''Chrysosplenium alternifolium'' is a species of flowering plant in the saxifrage family known as the alternate-leaved golden-saxifrage. It is a mat-forming perennial of wet places that grows between tall. It blooms from March onward. Descripti ...

'' (Chrysosplenium alternifolium)'';

black elder ''Sambucus nigra'' is a species complex of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae native to most of Europe. Common names include elder, elderberry, black elder, European elder, European elderberry, European black elderberry and tramman (Isle ...

(''Sambucus nigra'') from the moschatel (Adoxaceae) family has been growing since in the

Lurgrotte The Lurgrotte karst cave is the largest cave in the Eastern Alps of Styria, Austria. It is located about north of Graz and crosses the Tannenben karst region. The cave has two accessible entrances, one at the village of ...

near

Peggau Peggau is a municipality in the district of Graz-Umgebung in the Austrian state of Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of ...

in Styria. Fungi and roots growing into caves, as well as plants growing in naturally illuminated areas, are not lampenflora.

Development

The requirements for the development of lampenflora are sufficient (artificial) light and moisture. An increase in nutrient content (e.g. fertilizer usage on land above the cave) or heat (e.g.

incandescent lighting An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb with a vacuum or inert gas to protect the filament from oxid ...

) may lead to an increase in lampenflora. The germs, seeds or spores can get brought into the cave by air, water, animals or people.Lampenflora in show caves
2017 In the aphotic (lightless) part of caves, short-term growth of photosynthetic plants is possible thanks to the seed's nutritive tissue. After this is consumed, the plant dies.

Lampenflora as a problem

Lampenflora can cause various problems: Since lampenflora changes the appearance of

show cave A show cave—also called tourist cave, public cave, and, in the United States, commercial cave—is a cave which has been made accessible to the public for guided visits. Definition A show cave is a cave that has been made accessible to ...

s, it can give visitors wrong impressions of natural caves. It does not exist in caves not developed for humans. The weak acids excreted by lampenflora can also cause damage to and change limestone and other rocks. Lampenflora is especially dangerous to artifacts present in caves, such as cave paintings. The appearance of algae was one of the reasons the

Lascaux Lascaux ( , ; french: Grotte de Lascaux , "Lascaux Cave") is a network of caves near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne in southwestern France. Over 600 parietal wall paintings cover the interior walls and ceilings of ...

cave was closed to the public. Plants can also upset cave ecology.

Reduction of lampenflora

There are several methods for reducing lampenflora. A lot of measures involve changing lighting in caves, such as lighting which only activates when people are nearby,

led lighting An LED lamp or LED light bulb is an electric light that produces light using light-emitting diodes (LEDs). LED lamps are significantly more energy-efficient than equivalent incandescent lamps and can be significantly more efficient than mos ...

which produces less heat, and placing lighting further away from surfaces. Reducing red and blue light in favor of yellow light can also help, but generally makes caves less visually appealing and can make certain structures less visible. Even with special lighting certain algae species can still appear. Lampenflora can also be periodically removed either physically or chemically. The use of phytotoxic compounds must take into account the integrity of the ecology both inside and outside the cave, and the health of visitors and cave guides.

References

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External links

Everything you need to know about LAMPENFLORA

The Green Slime that Flourishes in Light-Filled Caves

Solutions to limit the influences of lamp-flora in tourist caves in Halong Bay
Plants Plants and humans Cave organisms Artificial ecosystems Lighting Plants by location Historic preservation