Study
Weathering of rocks induced by lichen colonization — a review
Chen, Jie; Blume, Hans-Peter; Beyer, Lothar
CATENA, 2000
A review of how lichens break down the rock they grow on, separating physical action — hyphae penetrating cracks, and the swelling and shrinking of the thallus with wetting and drying — from chemical action by organic acids the lichen secretes.
- Studied in
- Lecanoromycetes
- Sample size
- review of physical and chemical weathering by lichen thalli
Lichens weather rock by both routes. Hyphae penetrate along mineral boundaries and the thallus expands and contracts with moisture, prising fragments loose; secreted oxalic and lichen acids dissolve minerals and chelate metal ions. The combined effect measurably accelerates surface breakdown and contributes to early soil formation.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Lichen colonisation is a significant agent of rock weathering and of the initial stages of soil development.
How NatureHQ reads it
This is what makes lichens the standard example of primary succession rather than just a curiosity on a wall. A bare rock surface has nothing for a plant to root in; lichens can live there because they need no soil, and in living there they slowly make some — trapping dust, weathering the mineral surface and leaving organic matter behind. Everything that colonises afterwards is building on what they started, over decades to centuries.
- A review; rates vary by rock type, climate and lichen species over orders of magnitude.
- Some lichen cover also shelters rock from rain and frost, so the net effect is not always erosive.
- Laboratory weathering rates are difficult to extrapolate to field timescales.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Elsevier journalsPublished in an Elsevier journal.
doi.org/10.1016/s0341-8162(99)00085-5
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref on 2026-08-11.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-10.