FUNGI ISOLATED AND QUANTIFIED FROM BAT GUANO AND AIR IN HARMANECKA AND DRINY CAVES (SLOVAKIA)

This study is the first mycological evaluation of bat guano and the air around it in Harmanecka and Driny Caves in Slovakia. These caves are the most important underground localities of bats in Slovakia. Samples were collected in July 2014 and cultivated for fungi. Harmanecka Cave had seven species of filamentous fungi and one yeast-like fungus isolated from bat guano, compared to six species of filamentous fungi in guano from Driny Cave. Air samples from Harmanecka. Cave had twelve species of fungi, compared to nine species from Driny Cave. Fungal density was higher in guano from Driny Cave (4720.1 CFU/g guano) than from Harmanecka Cave (3498.3 CFU/g). The pattern was reversed with fungi from the air. Fungal density in air from Harmanecka Cave (211.3 CFU/m(3)) was higher than that from Driny Cave (175.7 CFU/m(3)). Penicillium granulatuin was the most frequently isolated fungal species, except in the guano of Driny Cave, where Mucor hiemalis was most common. Bat guano is a very good substrate for the development and survival of fungi in the caves, and it can be a reservoir of fungi harmful for bats. However, air samples from both caves contained more species of fungi than the bat guano, because the majority of fungi are transferred to underground ecosystems with air bioaerosols from the external environment.