Constantin, S.; Mirea, I.C.; Petculescu, A.; Arghir, R.A.; Măntoiu, D.Ș.; Kenesz, M.; Robu, M.; Moldovan, O.T. Monitoring Human Impact in Show Caves. A Study of Four Romanian Caves. Sustainability2021, 13, 1619.
Constantin, S.; Mirea, I.C.; Petculescu, A.; Arghir, R.A.; Măntoiu, D.Ș.; Kenesz, M.; Robu, M.; Moldovan, O.T. Monitoring Human Impact in Show Caves. A Study of Four Romanian Caves. Sustainability 2021, 13, 1619.
Constantin, S.; Mirea, I.C.; Petculescu, A.; Arghir, R.A.; Măntoiu, D.Ș.; Kenesz, M.; Robu, M.; Moldovan, O.T. Monitoring Human Impact in Show Caves. A Study of Four Romanian Caves. Sustainability2021, 13, 1619.
Constantin, S.; Mirea, I.C.; Petculescu, A.; Arghir, R.A.; Măntoiu, D.Ș.; Kenesz, M.; Robu, M.; Moldovan, O.T. Monitoring Human Impact in Show Caves. A Study of Four Romanian Caves. Sustainability 2021, 13, 1619.
Abstract
(1) Background: Show caves are unique natural attractions and touristic traffic can trigger their degradation within a very short time. There are no universal solutions to counter the effects of the touristic impact upon cave environment and both protection protocols and management plans have to be established on a case-by-case basis; (2) Methods: The study includes four show caves from the Romanian Carpathians, where monitoring of the number of visitors, paralleled by the monitoring of the main physico-chemical parameters of the air and water (CO2, temperature, humidity, drip rate, conductivity, and pH) was implemented; (3) Results and Conclusions: The results of the study has: (i) established a monitoring protocol to be applied to each of the four show caves; (ii) established a set of basic principles to be enforced by the management of show caves; (iii) issued a set of preventive measures and instructions to be followed by the personnel and stakeholders of the caves.
Keywords
cave; microclimate; monitoring; sustainable management; Carpathians; Romania
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Atmospheric Science and Meteorology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
