Windsor Great Cave
Encyclopedia
Windsor Great Cave is a 3000 metres (9,842.5 ft) long complex of linked cave
s in Trelawny Parish
on the north coast of Jamaica
. It is owned by the WWF (UK)
.
roost that hosts 12 or so species including Mormoops blainvillii, Pteronotus parnellii, Glossophaga soricina, Artibeus jamaicensis and Ariteus flavescens. Bat guano
has been harvested from the caves for many years and this continues.
Invertebrates include springtail
s of the species Troglopedetes jamaicanus, fungal gnats, troglobitic spiders (Nesticidae), larval Neodytomyia farri and the invasive roach Periplaneta americana.
Stygobites include cave-adapted crabs of the species Sesarma verleyi, but note that the mis-named Sesarma windsor is not found here.
Cave
A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. The term applies to natural cavities some part of which is in total darkness. The word cave also includes smaller spaces like rock shelters, sea caves, and grottos.Speleology is the science of exploration and study...
s in Trelawny Parish
Trelawny Parish, Jamaica
Trelawny is a parish in Cornwall County in northwest Jamaica. Its capital is Falmouth. It is bordered by the parishes of Saint Ann in the east, Saint James in the west, and Saint Elizabeth and Manchester in the south.-History:...
on the north coast of Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
. It is owned by the WWF (UK)
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States...
.
Natural history
The caves contain a major batBat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
roost that hosts 12 or so species including Mormoops blainvillii, Pteronotus parnellii, Glossophaga soricina, Artibeus jamaicensis and Ariteus flavescens. Bat guano
Guano
Guano is the excrement of seabirds, cave dwelling bats, and seals. Guano manure is an effective fertilizer due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor. It was an important source of nitrates for gunpowder...
has been harvested from the caves for many years and this continues.
Invertebrates include springtail
Springtail
Springtails form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects...
s of the species Troglopedetes jamaicanus, fungal gnats, troglobitic spiders (Nesticidae), larval Neodytomyia farri and the invasive roach Periplaneta americana.
Stygobites include cave-adapted crabs of the species Sesarma verleyi, but note that the mis-named Sesarma windsor is not found here.
Palaeoclimatic records
In the main bat roost there is a mound of guano over two metres high, directly under a particularly good roosting-spot. The deeper strata of this deposit may record the climate of the island for periods that could extend back for thousands of years.See also
- List of caves#Jamaica
- Jamaican Caves OrganisationJamaican Caves OrganisationThe Jamaican Caves Organisation is an all-volunteer caving organisation devoted to the preservation, exploration and documentation of caves in Jamaica...
- Trelawny Parish, JamaicaTrelawny Parish, JamaicaTrelawny is a parish in Cornwall County in northwest Jamaica. Its capital is Falmouth. It is bordered by the parishes of Saint Ann in the east, Saint James in the west, and Saint Elizabeth and Manchester in the south.-History:...
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