ABSTRACT
The most abundant lower plants on limestone are the bryophytes, or mosses and liverworts. These primitive plants can reproduce vegetatively, withstand dessication and have defensive chemical compounds to resist predation by most insects, snails, and bacteria. Many of the bryophytes on limestone are also found on buildings (cement and stone) and share affinities with those found on alkaline or calcareous soils elsewhere (Downing, Ramsay & Schofield, 1991). Some species curl up and enter suspended animation during droughts, expanding rapidly and becoming green after a rainstorm. Others survive in permanently cool and damp sites, especially around springs and cave entrances. In the tropics, a diverse microflora coats stalactites and rock surfaces in the twilight zone of caves. These may have a significant role in the limestone solution process. We know very little about the ecology of limestone microflora, especially in the area of biogeomorphology.
