Proceedings e report - Firenze University Press

WOOD SCIENCE FOR CONSERVATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE
(18 th century), Rezekne Lutheran church (20 th century), Riga Dome (13 th century), Sabile Lutheran
church (16 th century), Sloka Lutheran church (19 th century), Vecpils Roman Catholic Church (18 th
century).
Old buildings: Desele watermill (1920), Liepaja railway station (19 th century), Ventspils Latvian
Society building (1912).
Our attention was paid both to the internal woodwork (floors, walls, ceilings, roof inner portions etc.)
as well as external woodwork (windows, stairs, walls, roofs, fences, bridges, benches). The research
consisted of damage diagnosis in situ, identification of fungi, and examination of the attacked
materials.
2.2. Identification of microorganisms
Fungal material (mainly fruiting bodies, in some cases mycelium and strands) was collected in paper
and plastic bags, brought to the laboratory, dried at room temperature and prepared for microscopy.
The identification of wood decay fungi was performed by using light microscopy and reagents
(Melzer, 5% KOH, cotton blue, sulphovanillin). Wood decay fungi were identified according to the
keys [2] [3] [4] [5] [7] [10] [13]. All corticoid species were referred to the group of Corticiaceae s. lat.
[3]. In several cases only available material was brown-rotted wood. In these cases wood samples
were examined visually and recorded as unidentified brown-rot.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Overview on wood decay fungi in Latvian buildings
338 cases of fungal degradation in private/ public buildings and cultural heritage were recorded during
our inspections. Cultural heritage sites were decayed in 91 (27%) cases.
Table 1 lists the species of wood decay fungi, the type of rot and the species occurrence in buildings.
In few cases, the corticoids and brown-rot fungi were not identified to the species level. In Table 1,
they appear as ”Unidentified Corticiaceae s. lat.” and ”Unidentified brown-rot”. All unidentified
species were also added to the number of occurrences. The number of cases fluctuated yearly, in the
average, 28 cases per year were recorded. A total of 60 fungal species were identified; 21 of them
belonged to brown-rot species, while 39 were white-rot producers. This demonstrates a higher
diversity of white-rot species in buildings.
Table 1: Wood decay basidiomycetes, type of rot and occurrence in Latvian buildings.
Basidiomycetes
Occurrences in objects Total
occurrences
CM* PP** No %
Brown-rot
Antrodia spp.:
Antrodia serialis (Fr.) Donk
Antrodia sinuosa (Fr.) P. Karst.
Antrodia sordida Ryv. & Gilb.
Antrodia vailantii (DC : Fr.) Ryv.
Antrodia xantha (Fr.: Fr.) Ryv.
17 26 43 12.7
Coniophora arida (Fr.) P. Karst. 1 - 1 0.3
Coniophora puteana (Schum.) Karst. 5 14 19 5.6
Fomitopsis pinicola (Sw.) P. Karst. 1 - 1 0.3
Gloeophyllum spp.:
Gloeophyllum abietinum Fr.: Fr.
Gloeophyllum sepiarium (Wulf.: Fr.) P. Karst.
6 4 10 2.9
Lentinus lepideus (Fr.: Fr.) Fr. - 1 1 0.3
Leucogyrophana pinastri (Fr.) Bond. - 2 2 0.6
Leucogyrophana pseudomolusca (Parm.) Parm. - 1 1 0.3
Oligoporus caesius (Schrad.: Fr.) Gilb. & Ryvarden 1 - 1 0.3
Oligoporus placentus (Fr.) Gilb. Ryvarden - 2 2 0.6
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