UV Photobiology of the Developmental Planktonic Stages of Antarctic Benthic Invertebrates

9528089博世公司最近记录的全球平流层臭氧减少引起了人们对海洋社区中紫外线B辐射增加的潜在生态后果的关注。即使没有臭氧消耗，UVB辐射穿透到海洋表面水域也对许多海洋生物构成了生物危害。最大范围的臭氧破坏发生在南极大陆和南大洋，那里每年春天都有超过50%的消耗记录。评估紫外线效应的一个主要障碍是对单个物种的紫外线光生物学知之甚少。在南极，一些更具生态优势的底栖无脊椎动物物种居住在潮间带和浅潮下深处，那里已经记录了UVB的生物效应。这些物种中的许多都有浮游发育，它们的产卵季节恰逢臭氧耗竭发生的时期；因此，它们的微小胚胎和幼体暴露在越来越高的紫外线水平下。目前还没有关于UVB水平增加对南极底栖无脊椎动物种群的潜在短期或长期影响的信息。这里提出的研究将集中在南极半岛安弗斯岛帕尔默站地区三个重要的南极无脊椎动物物种的紫外光生物学上。这些物种是帽贝Nacella coninna、海胆Sterechinus appayeri和海星Odontaster Validus。这些物种的成虫是南极潮间带和浅潮下底栖动物群落的优势成员，它们的胚胎和幼虫从南半球冬末到夏季在表层水域发育数月。本研究将评估环境中紫外线对这些物种生活史早期阶段(配子、胚胎和幼虫)的影响，方法是：1)检测潜在的紫外线暴露水平，2)评估不同的敏感性，3)鉴定UVB引起的分子、染色体和形态上的损伤，4)评估UVB暴露的潜在保护和恢复。由于这些物种在温带和热带地区都有分类上的等价物，这项工作将为增加我们对局部和全球尺度上的紫外线效应的了解提供重要的生物学参数。

9528089 Bosch Recently documented global decreases in stratospheric ozone have brought attention to the potential ecological consequences of increased ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation in marine communities. Even without ozone depletion, UVB radiation penetrating into surface waters of the ocean represents a biological hazard to many marine organisms. The most extensive destruction of ozone has been occurring over the Antarctic continent and Southern Ocean, where over 50% depletion is recorded each spring. A major obstacle in assessing UV effects is that very little is known about the UV photobiology of individual species. In the Antarctic, some of the more ecologically dominant benthic invertebrate species occupy intertidal and shallow subtidal depths where biological effects of UVB have already been documented. Many of these species have planktonic development and their spawning season coincides with the period when ozone depletion is occurring; thus their microscopic embryos and larvae are exposed to increasingly higher levels of UVB. At present there is no information on the potential short- or long- term effects of increased UVB levels on populations of Antarctic benthic invertebrates. The research proposed here will focus on the UV photobiology of three important Antarctic invertebrate species that inhabit intertidal and subtidal areas in the region of Palmer Station, Anvers Island, Antarctic Peninsula. These species are the limpet Nacella concinna, the sea urchin Sterechinus neumayeri and the sea star Odontaster validus. The adults of these species are dominant members of Antarctic intertidal and shallow subtidal benthic communities, and their embryos and larvae develop for months in surface waters from late austral winter through summer. This study will evaluate the impact of ambient UVB on early stages (gametes, embryos and larvae) of the life histories of these species by 1) examining potential UV exposure levels, 2) assessing differential sensitivit ies, 3) identifying molecular, chromosomal and morphological UVBinduced damage, and 4) evaluating potential protection and recovery from UVB exposure. Since these species have taxonomic equivalents at both temperate and tropical latitudes, this work will provide important biological parameters for increasing our knowledge about UV effects on both local and global scales.