Algae, Fungi, and Lichens on Inselbergs

Abstract

Bare calcareous and quartzitic rock surfaces in arid and semiarid regions, as well as dry spots like inselbergs in humid savannas, are generally inhabited by a complex community of actinomycetes, cyanobacteria, algae, dematiaceous fungi [= Hyphomycetes (imperfect fungi) having darkcolored hyphae and/or spores], and lichens (Danin and Garty 1983; Eppard et al. 1996; Friedmann 1980; Krumbein and Jens 1981; Staley et al. 1992). Especially cyanobacteria are known to occur also on man-made substratum like the walls of buildings (Garty 1990), older concrete walls, or the marble of historic temples (Anagnostidis et al. 1983), where they can initiate deterioration of the material, often together with fungi. Diels (1914) and later Jaag (1945) published extensive works on the composition and ecology of what is called Tintenstriche, a community basically created by different species of cyanobacteria, cyanobacterial lichens, and a few green algae, that stain vertical rock faces in the European Alps ink-blue. However, this phenomenon is not restricted to the European Alps, it also occurs in many high mountain ridges of the world (e. g., Wessels and Büdel 1995).