195 Acta Musei Moraviae, Scientiae biologicae (Brno) 86: 195–202, 2001 Bryophyte flora at lamps in public caves in the Moravian Karst (Czech Republic) SVATAVA KUBEŠOVÁ Moravian Museum, Department of Botany, Hviezdoslavova 29a, 627 00 Brno, Czech Republic e-mail: skubesova@mzm.cz KUBEŠOVÁ S. 2001: Bryophyte flora at lamps in public caves in the Moravian Karst (Czech Republic). Acta Musei Moraviae, Scientiae biologicae (Brno) 86: 195–202. – Bryophytes growing close to lamps in regular use were studied in the northern part of the Moravian Karst (Czech Republic). Data were collected in four caves that are open to the public and extensively lit to display geological phenomena. Previous investigations of the lamp flora were carried out in the 1960s–70s. Since that time, both the equipment and the maintenance of these caves (illumination, chemical removal of plants) have changed. This paper compares the bryophyte lamp flora of the 1960s–70s with that of the present. In the 1960s–70s studies, 46 bryophyte species were recorded, as against 34 bryophyte species recorded in 1999–2000. Two liverworts and 10 moss species were not confirmed and 2 mosses were newly recorded. No liverworts were recorded in 1999–2000. Overall, 34 % of the bryophyte flora remains the same as in the past and 46 % is different. Key words: caves, bryophytes, lamp flora, the Moravian Karst Introduction The flora of caves can be divided into three ecological groups in different biotopes: cave entrance flora, total darkness flora, and lamp flora (RAJCZY 1989). The occurrence of photosynthetic plants is limited by light. Plants naturally colonise cave entrances. The flora of cave entrances in the Moravian Karst has been studied by ŠEDA (1958) and ŠEDA & ŠEDOVÁ (1958). The establishment of strong and regular illumination enables the colonisation of caves by plants. Algae and bryophytes are often recorded near lamps, while ferns (more often their prothalli) and exceptionally flowering plants also occur there. The term Lampenflora is used for this phenomenon in German literature. The bryophyte flora at lamps consists of no particular range of species (ŠMARDA 1970). It originates from the soil and rock surfaces outside the caves (RAJCZY 1989, ŠMARDA 1970). Species that produce abundant spores in the neighbourhood of caves predominate (ŠMARDA 1970), whether or not they constitute a part of the entrance flora (RAJCZY 1989). Moss growth began to increase after the installation of new lamps in 1957–1958; the lamp flora was studied by Vaněčková and Šmarda from 1962 onwards (V ANĚČKOVÁ 1978). A high number of visitors and alterations in the illumination (in the Punkva caves and the Kateřinská cave) facilitated further expansion of plants in the 1970s (ŠTELCL 1984). An increase in lamp flora, and problems associated with it, stimulated investigations by KAMANOVÁ (1978), ŠMARDA (1970, 1973), ŠTELCL (1978, 1984) and V ANĚČKOVÁ (1978). CULEK (1991) studied the bryophytes of selected caves in ISSN 1211-8788