ROSATO, VILMA GABRIELA. LEMIT, Calle 52 s/n, entre 121 y 122, (1900) La Plata, Argentina.. - Lichen species growing on mortar and concrete in the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.
Concrete was the principal building material since the beginning of
the 20th. century, and the Buenos Aires Province as well as the rest
of Argentina were no exceptions. For instance there are some
“art-deco” buildings now appreciated and protected as a local
heritage. Some of these buildings are colonized by lichens as well as
other structures such as dams and road bridges, but were not studied
until recently. Therefore,the aim of the present paper is to offer a
list of lichens found up to now on mortar and concrete in the Buenos
Aires Province that were collected and identified when these
structures were inspected. The samples were collected mainly in the
central and SW part of the province as well as the southern coast of
the Rio de La Plata. These regions have important climatic differences
but lichens don´t seem to be influenced by them. Substrate porosity
and water retention seem to be more important for lichen colonization.
However, some species were collected only in the central part of the
Province, but this can only be regarded as a trend. There are 22
species: 17 crustose (Acarosporaceae, Candellariaceae, Lecanoraceae,
Teloschistaceae and Verrucariaceae) and 5 foliose(Physciaceae and
Teloschistaceae). The most frequent and widespread is the crustose
species Caloplaca citrina (Teloschistaceae). Crustose species are also
known from Europe. On the other hand, foliose species are restricted
to South America. Although no new species were found , the crustose
species Sarcogyne pruinosa and Staurothele catalepta are recorded for
the first time for Argentina. This list cannot be considered as
conclusive. More extensive sampling of other regions of the Province,
specially the coastal and the arid zone of the south is needed, as
well as microhabitat studies to improve the knowledge about the
ecology of these species.
Key words: Argentina, biodeterioration, Buenos Aires, concrete, lichens