What are the Effects of Uv-B Radiation on Marine Organisms?

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the effects of UV-B radiation on marine organisms. Various experiments have demonstrated that UV-B radiation causes damage to fish larvae and juveniles, shrimp larvae, crab larvae, copepods, and plants essential to the aquatic food web. These damaging effects include decreases in fecundity, growth, survival, and other functions of these organisms. In natural marine plant communities a change in species composition rather than a decrease in net production is the probable result of enhanced UV-B exposure. A change in community composition may result in a more unstable ecosystem and would likely have an influence on higher trophic levels. A decrease in total atmospheric ozone would shorten the season of greatest abundance for near-surface zooplankton. The direct effect of UV-B radiation on food-fish larvae closely parallels the effect on invertebrate zooplankton. The usual effects of many environmental stresses are changes in overall productivity and reductions in species diversity. Diversity is often associated with stability in ecosystems, allowing alternate routes and choices within food webs. In field situations under slight stress, one often cannot measure changes in productivity or size of specific populations, but sometimes changes in species diversity can indicate that adverse effects are occurring. With loss of species an ecosystem may lose some of its natural resiliency and flexibility. In aquatic ecosystems one must consider a great number of species, with different life stages and different trophic levels.