Elsevier

Journal of Cultural Heritage

Volume 16, Issue 5, September–October 2015, Pages 728-735
Journal of Cultural Heritage

Original article
Exploring ecological relationships in the biodeterioration patterns of Angkor temples (Cambodia) along a forest canopy gradient

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2015.01.001Get rights and content

Abstract

Various biological communities colonize the Khmer temples in Angkor (Cambodia), which had lain abandoned for many centuries. These biodeterioration patterns change in response to different environmental conditions, and the aim of this study is to quantify their frequency and ecological characteristics according to a forest canopy gradient. The descriptive and multivariate statistical analysis applied to data collected from the four temples in the study identifies various biological communities along with a temple-specific ecological succession. The initial pioneer community is primarily composed of a reddish biofilm of the green alga Trentepohlia sp., and it occurs in xeric and shady environmental conditions, becoming dominant in forested areas. Cyanobacteria biofilm, consisting of species belonging to the genera Scytonema and Gloeocapsa, sometimes in combination with the lichen Endocarpon sp., prevails in xeric and sunny conditions. With the progressive increase of the availability of edaphic water, typical of forested areas, various lichen communities are able to establish themselves (dominated by Lepraria, Pyxine coralligera and Cryptothecia subnidulans respectively), followed by moss and higher plant communities. Understanding these relationships appears to be a very useful way of identifying the best microclimatic conditions for stone conservation.

Section snippets

Research aims

This paper is aimed at providing a contribution to the modeling of changes in biological colonization on the stone temples of Angkor in relation to the gradients of the most important limiting environmental factors. In particular, we wish explore the ecological relationships between different biodeterioration patterns found growing on monuments, by tracing a forest canopy gradient.

Conclusion

Forest canopy, influencing humidity, solar radiation and temperature, seems to be the most important variable in determining the changes undergone by biological communities on the stone temples of Angkor.

Considering the role of biological components in such ecosystems, the knowledge of the ecological relationships of various biodeterioration patterns seems to be very useful. The biodeteriorative effects of different communities vary, and if we wish to favour the presence on stone of certain

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Mr. Say Sophearin, His Excellency Bun Narith, His Excellency Ros Borath, His Excellency Tan Boun Suy and Ms. Mao Loa of the APSARA National Authority for their kind support during our field studies in Cambodia.

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