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Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Geography ((BRIEFSGEOGRAPHY))

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Abstract

In this chapter is a discussion of the agents of weathering, mostly air pollution and wildlife, from the perspective of urban churchyards. The two main factors determining durability is the quality of rock and its intrinsic properties (porosity, hardness, strength, etc.) as well as extrinsic environmental factors that create microclimates as well as overarching climatic variables that can impact exposed stonework. The emphasis here is on natural succession and how the bare stone surface represents opportunities for colonisation by flora (fungi, lichens , mosses, etc.) and fauna, as evident in the field study. Observations and comparisons are made and presented to develop the discussion.

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Correspondence to Mary J. Thornbush .

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Thornbush, M.J., Thornbush, S.E. (2018). Conservation Issues. In: Heritage Stone Conservation in Urban Churchyards. SpringerBriefs in Geography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76363-7_7

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