Windsor Great Cave

Windsor Great Cave
Map showing the location of Windsor Great Cave
Location Trelawny Parish, Jamaica
Coordinates 18°21′03″N 77°38′51″W / 18.3509614°N 77.6475263°W / 18.3509614; -77.6475263Coordinates: 18°21′03″N 77°38′51″W / 18.3509614°N 77.6475263°W / 18.3509614; -77.6475263[1]
Depth 80 metres (260 ft)[1]
Length 2,980 metres (9,780 ft)[1]
Entrances 4[1]
List of
entrances		 Main
Upper
Bamboo Bottom
Flood Rising[1]

Windsor Great Cave is a 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) long cave in Trelawny Parish on the north coast of Jamaica. The land external to the main entrance is owned by the WWF (UK), and access is often denied by the Windsor Research Centre who act as their proxy.[2]

Natural history

The caves contain a major bat roost that hosts 12 or so species including Mormoops blainvillii, Pteronotus parnellii, Glossophaga soricina, Artibeus jamaicensis and Ariteus flavescens.[1] Bat guano has been harvested from the caves for many years and this continues.[1]

Invertebrates include springtails of the species Troglopedetes jamaicanus, fungal gnats, troglobitic spiders (Nesticidae), larval Neodytomyia farri and the invasive roach Periplaneta americana.[1]

Stygobites include cave-adapted crabs of the species Sesarma verleyi, but note that the misnamed Sesarma windsor is not found here.[1]

Palaeoclimatic records

In the main bat roost there is a mound of guano over two metres high, directly under a particularly good roosting-spot.[1] The deeper strata of this deposit may record the climate of the island for periods that could extend back for thousands of years.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Stewart, R S (2002–2005). "Windsor Cave Jamaica - Field Notes". Jamaican Caves Organisation. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
  2. ↑ "Windsor Cave". Windsor Research Centre. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
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