Soil erosion and runoff from livestock and poultry farms may enter a recharge area and affect the water quality within a cave. Human disturbance Collection of Ozark cavefish by professional and amateur collectors can reduce or eliminate local populations of cavefish. Repeated human disturbance of gray bats and other bats within a cave may result in high bat mortality and eventual abandonment of the cave. With the bats gone, the cavefish may lose an important source of food and nutrients. Alterations or destruction of cave habitats Caves and nearby springs are often part of the same system.
Water enters the cave system by ground percolation and sinkholes.
Destruction of suitable cave habitats resulting from flooding by reservoirs, excessive water removal, or intentionally sealing the entrance potentially results in populations of cavefish being lost or severely reduced. Changes in water level can dramatically alter a cave's habitat. The flow of nutrients and food into the cave stops w hen caves are sealed, or otherwise made inaccessible to bats and other animals. A sinkhole is a collapsed portion of a cave and a direct route for altering the cave environment. Filling sinkholes or using them as waste dumps affects water quality and water levels in cavefish habitat.