Assessment of Abundance and Species Composition of Filamentous Fungi in the Underground Rzeczka Complex in Sowie Mountains (Lower Silesia, Poland)

Our study is the first mycological evaluation of the air and the rocks in the underground Rzeczka complex in Sowie Mountains (Lower Silesia, Poland). The density of filamentous fungi isolated from the air inside and outside the adit ranged between 245.5 to 1332.6 Colony Forming Units in 1m(3) of air. Sixteen species of filamentous fungi were isolated from the internal air sampled and 11 from the outside of the adit. Cladosporium spp. were the fungi most frequently isolated from the internal atmosphere of the adit and from the external air. From the rock walls and from the rock debris on the floor of the adit only seven species of fungi were isolated. The fungi most frequently isolated from the rock walls were the Aspergillus niger group and from the rock debris we also found A. niger group along with species of Mucor. The concentration of airborne fungi in the adit did not exceed official limits and norms present for a health risk to the tourists, but fungi species isolated from the rocks can cause their degradation.