Gravestone Lichens and Mosses at Cave Hill Cemetery

Lichens and Mosses are so unrelated to each other that they are not in the same kingdom. However, they do have somewhat similar ecological niches. Both can be found growing on rocks and bark. However mosses grow faster, reproduce faster, need less light, and need more water and nutrients. Both lichens and mosses can be found growing on gravestones in Cave Hill Cemetery. Mosses are found in wetter shadier areas of gravestones than lichens. I've only been able to identify one species of moss growing on gravestones, however mosses are hard to identify. I've identified two genera of lichen (I can't be sure of species). Those genera are Candelaria and Physcia. Candelaria is more common and seems to grow in wetter shadier areas than Physcia, but does not need nearly as water and shade as mosses. This is the pattern that I've associated with the gravestones at Cave Hill Cemetery so are. Please let me know if you have other insights or if there is something I got wrong.

Posted on 02 de dezembro de 2019, 12:25 AM by