Lichens have been studied to be the primary producers in the Antarctic terrestrial

ecosystem. In a study conducted by Kappen, Friedmann, and Garty (1983) on the

ecophysiology of cryptoendolithic lichens on dry valleys of Southern Victoria Land in
Antartica, the results show that both temperature and humidity conditions are
significantly favorable for the life in the lichen zone inside the rock. In an another
study of lichen activity under the influence of snow and ice (Kappen & Schroeter,
1997), snow and ice were found to be stress factors to the poikilohydric nature of
lichens. Lichens that are able to exist in climatically very extreme environments such
as the Antarctic Dry Valleys and on top of nunataks have shown high maintenance or
coping mechanism with extreme low temperatures and extremely high freezing
tolerance. Photosynthetic growth of Usnea and Umbilicaria was still active even at
-20°C. And since water uptake is essential for lichen metabolic activity, the major
source of moisture for lichens was snow and ice, where hydration was particularly
maintained through snowfall. Further results concluded that the most productive
periods of the year for lichen activities are spring to early summer and fall, and
likewise those parts of the winter which have enough light to provide photosynthetic
activity.

In a research done by Gehrmann, Krumbein, and Petersen (1988), weathering

activities on mineral and rock surfaces by lichens were observed to be positively
connected to the physical processes of thallus expansion and contraction and hyphae
penetration coupled by the chemical processes of chelating activities of lichen
substances and oxalic acid. The weathering phenomenon brought about by the rock-
lichen interaction are said to be similar to desquamation-exfoliant and sanding from
the surface of the stone. Biocorrosive activity of mucus produced by the mycobiont
was taken into consideration for the reduction of cohesion and adhesion between the
structural mineral components, which occur during dry state.

Although the first studies of lichen which produced weathering of rocks led to
the conclusion that this effect might almost be entirely ascribed to physical causes, it
is known today that the lichen-rock interface is a place of considerable chemical
activity, above all due to the fungal excretion of organic acids with chelating capacity.
Within the fields of chemical weathering of the minerals forming the rock, two types
were described by Duchafour (1979): (1) geochemical weathering, which takes place
under the influence of water, and which is characterized by the crystallization of clay
minerals and some oxides and hydroxides, and (2) biochemical weathering which is
deeply influenced by the presence of organic matter and living organisms, producing
non-crystallized and poorly organized matter. In a research about the weathering
action of saxicolous lichens in maritime Antartica (Ascaso et al, 1990) where
Xanthoria elegans and Lecidea lapicida were studied on volcanic andesite and
Rhizocarpon geooraphicum and Bacidia stipata on a volcanigenic sedimen, results
show that the presence of crystalline oxalate, imogolite, allophane, carbonates
(calcite) and amorphous material not found in the parent rock indicates
biomineralization processes attributable to the lichens. Feldspars were present in the
rock-lichen interface to a lesser extent than in the underlying rock. R. geographicum
altered minerals on the rock while L. lapicida had phyllosilicate degradation products
of calcium oxalate and some illite micas. B. stipata had the greatest capacity to
weather the rock and had weddellite (dihydrate calcium oxalate) and calcite in the
contact area as well as many bacteria.