State of Art in the Field

Effects on biodeterioration

Climate change is also predicted to affect individual organisms, populations, species distributions, and ecosystem composition and function, both directly (e.g. through increases in temperature and changes in precipitation) and indirectly (e.g. through climate changing the intensity and frequency of disturbances such as wildfires).

In general, the current rate of biodiversity loss is greater than the natural background rate of extinction. While a number of reports on the observed changes in terrestrial and marine ecosystems associated with climatic change are available, no study exists on the effects of climate change on the colonisation and species distribution of populations thriving on building stones [5,6].

Depending on the type of community covering the stone surface, biodeterioration could either increase, or a biological crust could protect the stone. The impact of climate change on the biodeterioration of monuments is in urgent need of investigation.