Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 20
Impacts of Stratospheric Ozone Depletion and
Solar UVB Radiation on Seaweeds
Kai Bischof and Franciska S. Steinhoff
20.1
Introduction
Reports on the thinning of the stratospheric ozone (O
3
) layer in the early 1980s
resulted in intense research activities aiming to assess and predict effects of an
increased ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation on biological systems, human skin, physi-
ological key processes, e.g., photosynthesis, plant development, animal perfor-
mance as well as terrestrial and marine ecosystem structure. Despite recent
reports on the recovery of the Antarctic ozone hole (Newman et al.
2009
; Kerr
2011
), the impact of UVB on humans is still regarded as one of the most striking
health issues in areas close to the Antarctic convergence (e.g., New Zealand,
Southern Chile, Southern Argentina). Over the Arctic, however, the less stable
atmospheric conditions result in extreme interannual variation in O
3
concentration,
with a record loss in stratospheric O
3
being reported in spring 2011 (see press
release by the European Space Agency (ESA)
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/
SEMIF24SZLG_index_0.html
). Therefore, serious concern about the impacts of
high UVB radiation on the biosphere still drives significant research efforts in the
Polar regions of both hemispheres, based on the calculation that a 10% decline in
column ozone would result in an approximately 5% increase of surface irradiance at
320 nm while the same decline would be accompanied by a 100% increase at
300 nm (Frederick et al.
1989
), thus in the harmful range of UVB radiation. Among
scientists there is large consensus about the success of the Montreal protocol, which
K. Bischof (
*
)
Department of Marine Botany, Bremen Marine Ecology, University of Bremen,
Leobener Str. NW2, 28359 Bremen, Germany
e-mail:
kbischof@uni-bremen.de
F.S. Steinhoff
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, P.O. Box 461
40530 G
oteborg, Sweden
e-mail:
Franciska.Steinhoff@ntnu.no
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