How a Bag of Snacks Changed Life in a Cave

Dropping a bag of snacks on the ground may not seem like the whole world, but in a cave in the United States, it affected an entire ecosystem, according to the national park.

A visitor who left a bag of cheese curds in a cave at Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico may have been hungry for a while at most. The consequences were even greater for the microorganisms and insects that live in the subterranean environment, according to park officials.

In the damp cave, it didn't take long for the snack to start rotting. It attracted cockroaches, moths, spiders and flies, making the problem even more prevalent, the national park wrote in a Facebook post.

“huge impact”

Many of the microorganisms and molds that emerged do not naturally live in the cave. “They have had a significant impact on the cave ecosystem,” the park wrote. “From a human perspective, a dropped snack bag may seem trivial, but for cave life, it can change the world.”

Andy Baker, professor of environmental science at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, agrees.

“One way to look at this is that caves are very difficult places to survive. There’s no light. Water may be limited. There’s a lack of food,” he wrote in an email to The Washington Post.

“Cave animals have adapted to that environment. Then add food of any kind, and you can upset the balance of the cave ecosystem.

Clean it carefully.

When the bag was discovered this summer, cave specialists were called in to clean it up. They collected most of the rotting snack, then used toothbrushes to remove the mold and fungus that had spread to nearby cave formations.

Tons of trash are collected in America's national parks each year. It's an ongoing battle to protect unique ecosystems while allowing visitors to get up close and personal.