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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 7, NUMBER 7, JULY 1994

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS... OF GENERAL INTEREST: UV-B IMPACTS

Item #d94jul16

"Ecosystem Response to Solar Ultraviolet-B Radiation: Influence of Trophic-Level Interactions," M.L. Bothwell (Natl. Hydrol. Res. Inst., Saskatoon SK S7N 3H5, Can.), D.M.J. Sherbot, C.M. Pollock, Science, 265(5168), 97-100, July 1, 1994.

Although solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) can reduce the photosynthesis and growth of benthic diatom communities in shallow freshwater, more algae accumulate in UVR-exposed habitats than in UVR-protected ones. Experiments show that insect larvae that consume algae are even more sensitive to UVR, and this differential sensitivity contributes to counter-intuitive increases in algae in habitats exposed to UVR. Predictions of the response of entire ecosystems to elevated UV-B cannot be made on single trophic-level assessments.