ABSTRACT

Mosses are a common type of organism found colonising stone in both the natural and built environment. People responsible for managing and conserving historic buildings often worry that mosses can cause biodeterioration, but there is very little research to date on what controls moss growth and the nature and magnitude of their impact. To help fill this knowledge gap, research has been carried out on limestone walls at Kelmscott Manor, the churchyard at Chipping Norton, and in the laboratory on limestone test blocks, to examine the impact of microclimate variations on both the initial colonisation and spread of mosses, and the impact of moss colonisation on temperature, relative humidity, and moisture conditions. The research used a combination of non-destructive and invasive tests to determine the impact of mosses on moisture relations through direct impacts on surface moisture, water absorption capacity, and open porosity. From the results presented, we can infer that mosses have an impact on water uptake and retention on mortar and limestone at both the surface and subsurface level, and that they may play a role in ‘shielding’ the underlying substrate from light rainfall events. The experimental data also suggests that in certain cases, removing mosses may have more of an impact on moisture regimes than leaving them in situ.

摘要

苔藓是一种常见的生物，在自然环境和建筑环境中都发现在石头上。负责管理和保护历史建筑的人经常担心苔藓会导致生物退化，但迄今为止关于控制苔藓生长的因素及其影响的性质和程度的研究很少。为了帮助填补这一知识空白，已经对 Kelmscott Manor 的石灰岩墙、Chipping Norton 的教堂墓地以及石灰石试验块的实验室进行了研究，以检查小气候变化对苔藓的初始定殖和传播的影响，以及苔藓定殖对温度、相对湿度和湿度条件的影响。该研究结合了非破坏性和侵入性测试，通过直接影响表面水分、吸水能力和开孔孔隙率来确定苔藓对水分关系的影响。从所呈现的结果中，我们可以推断出苔藓对地表和地下水平的砂浆和石灰石的吸水和保留有影响，并且它们可能在“屏蔽”下层基质免受小雨事件影响方面发挥作用。实验数据还表明，在某些情况下，去除苔藓可能比留下苔藓对水分状况的影响更大 我们可以推断，苔藓对地表和地下水平的砂浆和石灰石的吸水和保留有影响，并且它们可能在“屏蔽”下层基质免受小雨事件影响方面发挥作用。实验数据还表明，在某些情况下，去除苔藓可能比留下苔藓对水分状况的影响更大 我们可以推断，苔藓对地表和地下水平的砂浆和石灰石的吸水和保留有影响，并且它们可能在“屏蔽”下层基质免受小雨事件影响方面发挥作用。实验数据还表明，在某些情况下，去除苔藓可能比留下苔藓对水分状况的影响更大原地。