Epilithic / epixylous colonisation
Definition
Growth of organisms on rock or stone surfaces (epilithic) or on dead wood (epixylous). In forensic contexts, colonisation of bone surfaces by microorganisms, algae, mosses, and lichens falls into these categories.
Related terms
- Biological soil crust (biocrust)
- A community of cyanobacteria, algae, mosses, fungi, and lichens that colonises bare soil surfaces and forms a thin coherent mat. Relevant to...
- Crustose lichen
- A lichen growth form in which the thallus grows flat against and into the substrate (bone, stone, wood) and cannot be removed...
- Lichenometry
- The use of lichen thallus diameter to estimate the minimum age of a surface. Based on the known or measured radial growth...
- Succession
- The predictable sequence of different insect species colonising remains as decomposition progresses. Early stages attract blow flies; later stages attract beetles, moths,...
- Thallus
- The body of a lichen, consisting of fungal hyphae housing algal or cyanobacterial cells. The thallus diameter or area is the measurement...
Explained in
- Plant Growth on Remains as PMI IndicatorGrowth of organisms on rock or stone surfaces (epilithic) or on dead wood (epixylous). In forensic contexts, colonisation of bone surfaces by microorganisms, a...