“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”

Tumbling Creek Cave has been a hub of cave and karst research by the Ozark Underground Laboratory, academics, and government entities for nearly sixty years. Below is a list of peer reviewed journal articles and other scientific publications summarizing over half a century of research at Tumbling Creek Cave.

Peer-reviewed journal articles

Elliott, W. R. (2007). Zoogeography and biodiversity of Missouri caves and karst. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, 69(1), 135–162.

Hershler, R., & Hubricht, L. (1988). Notes on Antroselates and Antrobia (Hydrobiidae), with redescription of Antrobia culveri. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 101(4), 730–740.

Lewis, J. J. (2002). Chaetaspis aleyorum, a new species of milliped from Tumbling Creek Cave, Missouri (Diplopoda: Chordeumatida: Trichopetalidae). Myriapodologica, 7(11), 101–111.

Lewis, J. J. (2004). Brackenridgia ashleyi, a new species of terrestrial isopod from Tumbling Creek Cave, Missouri (Isopoda: Oniscidea: Trichoniscidae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 117(2), 176–185.

Neill, H. M., Gutiérrez, M., & Aley, T. J. (2004). Influences of agricultural practices on water quality of Tumbling Creek Cave stream in Taney County, Missouri. Environmental Geology, 46(5), 619–631. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-003-0910-2

Slay, M. E., & Taylor, S. J. (2011). Range extension for the cave isopod Brackenridgia ashleyi Lewis (Isopoda: Trichoniscidae). Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, 73(3), 197–200.

Conference proceedings & symposium publications

Aley, T. J. (1977). The Ozark Underground Laboratory. In Proceedings of the Second National Cave Management Symposium (pp. 94–98). Speleobooks.

Aley, T. J. (2003). Findings from some hydrologic investigations in the epikarst. In Epikarst Symposium: Karst Waters Institute Special Publication No. 9 (pp. 79–84). Karst Waters Institute.

Aley, T. J., Aley, C. L., Moss, P., & Hertzler, E. (2008). Hydrogeological characteristics of delineated recharge areas for biologically significant cave and spring systems. In Proceedings of the 2007 National Cave and Karst Management Symposium (pp. 154–167).

Elliott, W. R., & Aley, T. J. (2006). Karst conservation in the Ozarks: Forty years at Tumbling Creek Cave. In Proceedings of the 2005 National Cave Management Symposium (pp. 204–214).

Elliott, W. R., Echols, K. R., Ashley, D. C., Aley, T. J., Leary, A., & McKenzie, P. (2008). Waterborne contaminants in Tumbling Creek Cave, Missouri. In Proceedings of the 2007 National Cave and Karst Management Symposium (pp. 107–123).

Woods, D. A. & Aley, T. J. (2021). How Much Land Does It Take To Protect A Cave. In 24th National Cave and Karst Management Symposium Proceedings (pp. 119-125).

Government reports & regulatory science

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (2001). Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants; Listing the Tumbling Creek cavesnail as endangered (Federal Register Vol. 66, No. 248, pp. 66841–66845).

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (2003). Recovery plan for the Tumbling Creek cavesnail (Antrobia culveri). https://www.fws.gov

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (2016). Tumbling Creek cavesnail (Antrobia culveri) 5-year review: Summary and evaluation. https://ecos.fws.gov

Theses & dissertations

Fair, E. E. (1974). The carbonation process in karst geomorphology: A climatic model (Doctoral dissertation). Southern Illinois University.

Fletcher, M. W. (1982). Microbial ecology of a bat guano community (Master’s thesis). Southwest Missouri State University.

Martin, B. J. (1980). The community structure of arthropods on bat guano and bat carcasses in Tumbling Creek Cave (Master’s thesis). University of Illinois at Chicago Circle.

Miller, S. L. (2024). Applying anaerobic microbial cultivation, molecular techniques, and IN-SILICO taxonomy to the mammalian microbiome. (Doctoral dissertation). University of Oklahoma

Neill, H. M. (2003). The effects of land use on Tumbling Creek Cave in Taney County, Missouri (Master’s thesis). Southwest Missouri State University.

Books & book chapters

Aley, T. J. (1977). The Ozark Underground Laboratory. In B. Sloane (Ed.), Cavers, caves, and caving (pp. 140–158). Rutgers University Press.

Aley, T. J. (1997). Caves in crisis. In Encyclopaedia Britannica yearbook of science and the future (pp. 116–133). Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Aley, T. J., Osorno, T. C., Devlin, J. F., and Goers, A. (2024). Practical Groundwater Tracing with Fluorescent Dyes. The Groundwater Project. https://doi.org/10.62592/MFWE5297.

Harmon, R. S., Schwarcz, H. P., & Aley, T. J. (1978). Isotopic studies of speleothems from a cave in southern Missouri, U.S.A. In R. E. Zartman (Ed.), Short papers of the fourth international conference, geochronology, cosmochronology, isotope geology (U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 78-701, pp. 146–149). U.S. Geological Survey.

Nelson, P. W. (2023). The flora and natural communities of the Ozark Underground Laboratory and Tumbling Creek Cave National Natural Landmark. (277 pp.). Tumbling Creek Cave Foundation.

Science-oriented magazines & practitioner publications

Aley, T. J., & Ashley, D. C. (2003). Saving the Tumbling Creek cavesnail. Wings: Essays on Invertebrate Conservation, Spring, 18–23.

Auckley, J. (1973). Research in a cave. Missouri Conservationist, June, 10–13.

Elliott, W. R., Aley, T. J., & Aley, C. L. (2007). Conserving an Ozark cave. Missouri Conservationist, 68(10), 17–21.

Elliott, W. R., Samoray, S. T., Gardner, S. E., & Aley, T. J. (2005). Tumbling Creek Cave: An ongoing conservation and restoration partnership. American Caves, Spring, 8–13.

Rhodes, R. (1974). Inside Tumbling Creek Cave. In The Ozarks: The American wilderness (pp. 64–75). Time-Life Books.