Buffam, Ishi
- Institutionen för landskapsarkitektur, planering och förvaltning, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
Sammanfattning
Research on the flora of green roofs has mainly focused on vascular plants. However, as green roofs age, they are spontaneously colonized by mosses and lichens, with mosses often becoming the dominant lifeform. There is thus a need to document and understand how moss and lichen communities assemble over time, and how these changes influence the provisioning of ecosystem services. To fill this knowledge gap, we analysed a chronosequence of 20 extensive green roofs, ranging from 0.4 to 28 years of age. For each roof, we measured environmental variables and collected percent cover data for all observed vascular plants, mosses, and lichens. Overall, all rooftops experienced spontaneous moss and lichen colonization over time. Increased shade, organic layer depth, and age appeared to favour perennial, pleurocarpous moss species over annual acrocarpous moss species. Based on the results of our study, the pleurocarpous mosses Brachythecium albicans and Hypnum cupressiforme are well adapted to rooftop conditions, making them suitable candidates for propagation onto Sedum/moss green roofs. Our findings suggest that careful selection of moss and lichen species, tailored to specific roof conditions at installation, could enhance colonization success (e.g. a stable community that can persist over multiple seasons). Future research should explore how these communities interact with other components of green roof ecosystems.
Nyckelord
Green roof; Moss; Lichen; Chronosequence; Plant community
Publicerad i
Urban Forestry and Urban Greening
2026, volym: 117, artikelnummer: 129303
Utgivare: ELSEVIER GMBH
SLU författare
UKÄ forskningsämne
Landskapsarkitektur
Ekologi
Publikationens identifierare
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2026.129303
Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/146064