International Day of Caves and Karst—“Explore, Understand and Protect: Towards Sustainable Management of Caves and Karst”, 13 September 2026
The 2026 International Day of Caves and Karst, celebrated on 13 September, highlights the hidden yet indispensable role of underground landscapes in sustaining life on Earth. With the theme “Explore, Understand and Protect: Towards Sustainable Management of Caves and Karst”, this year’s observance emphasizes how karst systems and cave environments—functioning as natural reservoirs, biodiversity hotspots, and climate archives—offer nature-based solutions to pressing global challenges. By revealing the intricate connections between surface and subsurface ecosystems, caves continue to deepen our understanding of Earth’s history and resilience. Journals published by MDPI support this mission by providing platforms for advancing research that explores the complexity and fragility of these subterranean realms.
MDPI invites researchers and readers to engage with open access journals, Special Issues, and collaborative platforms dedicated to advancing cave and karst science. Discover freely accessible studies spanning from speleogenesis and hydrogeology to subterranean ecology and heritage conservation, participate in global discussions through interdisciplinary forums, and contribute to open science efforts that bridge above‑ground and below‑ground perspectives. Together, let us embrace the mystery and significance of the underground to spark new dialogue, empower collective stewardship, and illuminate pathways toward a more sustainable coexistence with the hidden half of our planet.
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“Challenges in the Detection of Water-Filled Cavities in Karst Environments Using Electrical Resistivity Tomography”
by Sergio Negri and Dora Francesca Barbolla
Geosciences 2025, 15(9), 349; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences15090349
“Microclimate Variability in a Highly Dynamic Karstic System”
by Diego Gil, Mario Sánchez-Gómez and Joaquín Tovar-Pescador
Geosciences 2025, 15(8), 280; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences15080280
“Aeolian Landscapes and Paleoclimatic Legacy in the Southern Chacopampean Plain, Argentina”
by Enrique Fucks, Yamile Rico, Luciano Galone, Malena Lorente, Sebastiano D’Amico and María Florencia Pisano
Geographies 2025, 5(3), 33; https://doi.org/10.3390/geographies5030033
“Spatiotemporal Evolution and Driving Factors of Karst Rocky Desertification in Guangxi, China, Under Climate Change and Human Activities”
by Jialei Su, Meiling Liu, Qin Yang, Xiangnan Liu, Zeyan Wu and Yanan Wen
Remote Sens. 2025, 17(13), 2294; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17132294
“Detection of Sedimentary Basins and Karstic Faults in the Yucatán Peninsula by Gravity Inversion and Euler Deconvolution”
by José Carlos Ortiz-Alemán, Mauricio Nava-Flores, Jaime Humberto Urrutia-Fucugauchi, Sebastián Ortiz-Aguilar, Mauricio Gabriel Orozco-del-Castillo and Sebastian López-Juárez
Earth 2025, 6(2), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/earth6020042
“Reassessing the Global Significance of Geological Heritage in the Miné-Akiyoshidai Karst Plateau Aspiring UNESCO Global Geopark”
by Koji Wakita, Hokuto Obara, Nozomu Oyama and Takashi Murakami
Geosciences 2025, 15(2), 56; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences15020056
“Matese Mts. and Caserta District Karst Bauxites (Campania Region, Southern Italy): Insights on Geochemistry, Paleoclimate, Paleoenvironment, and Parental Affinity”
by Roberto Buccione and Giovanni Mongelli
Minerals 2024, 14(12), 1253; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14121253
“Hydrothermal Karstification of the Pre-Messinian Eonile Canyon: Geomorphological and Geochemical Evidences for Hypogene Speleogenesis in the Middle Nile Valley of Egypt”
by Ashraf A. Mostafa, Hatem M. El-Desoky, Diaa A. Saadawi, Ahmed M. Abdel-Rahman, John Webb, Hassan Alzahrani, Fahad Alshehri, Abdurraouf Okok, Ahmed E. Khalil and Eman A. Marghani
Minerals 2024, 14(9), 946; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14090946
“A New Species of Spelaeometra Polhemus & Ferreira, 2018 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Hydrometridae) from a Hotspot of Troglobites in Brazil, Serra do Ramalho Karst Area”
by Isabelle R. S. Cordeiro, Maria Elina Bichuette and Felipe F. F. Moreira
Animals 2023, 13(20), 3199; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13203199
“Winter Dietary Analysis Reveals the Foraging Differences of Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) in Different Regions of a Karst Mountainous Area”
by Heqin Cao, Xiongwei Yang, Caichun Peng, Yeying Wang, Qunyi Guo and Haijun Su
Animals 2023, 13(4), 727; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13040727
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“Illuminating the Void: Advances in Geophysical Imaging of Caves and Karst Systems” |
“Cave Life: Creatures That Lurk in the Shadows” |
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