Influence of environment on microbial colonization of historic stone buildings with emphasis on cyanobacteria

Abstract

Microbial cells that produce biofilms, or patinas, on historic buildings are affected by climatic changes, mainly temperature, rainfall and air pollution, all of which will alter over future decades. This review considers the colonization of stone buildings by microorganisms and the effects that the resultant biofilms have on the degradation of the structure. Conservation scientists require a knowledge of the potential effects of microorganisms, and the subsequent growth of higher organisms such as vascular plants, in order to formulate effective control strategies. The vulnerability of various structural materials (“bioreceptivity”) and the ways in which the environmental factors of temperature, precipitation, wind-driven rain and air pollution influence microbial colonization are discussed. The photosynthetic microorganisms, algae and cyanobacteria, are acknowledged to be the primary colonizers of stone surfaces and many cyanobacterial species are able to survive climate extremes; hence special attention is paid to this group of organisms. Since cyanobacteria require only light and water to grow, can live endolithically and are able to survive most types of stress, they may become even more important as agents of stone cultural property degradation in the future.