TY - JOUR
T1 - Outdoor studies on the effects of solar UV-B on bryophytes
T2 - Overview and methodology
AU - Boelen, P.
AU - de Boer, M.K.
AU - de Bakker, N.
AU - Rozema, Jelte
PY - 2006/1
Y1 - 2006/1
N2 - In this review all recent field studies on the effects of UV-B radiation on bryophytes are discussed. In most of the studies fluorescent UV-B tubes are used to expose the vegetation to enhanced levels of UV-B radiation to simulate stratospheric ozone depletion. Other studies use screens to filter the UV-B part of the solar spectrum, thereby comparing ambient levels of UV-B with reduced UV-B levels, or analyse effects of natural variations in UV-B arising from stratospheric ozone depletion. Nearly all studies show that mosses are well adapted to ambient levels of UV-B radiation since UV-B hardly affects growth parameters. In contrast with outdoor studies on higher plants, soluble UV-B absorbing compounds in bryophytes are typically not induced by enhanced levels of UV-B radiation. A few studies have demonstrated that UV-B radiation can influence plant morphology, photosynthetic capacity, photosynthetic pigments or levels of DNA damage. However, there is only a limited number of outdoor studies presented in the literature. More additional, especially long-term, experiments are needed to provide better data for statistical meta-analyses. A mini UV-B supplementation system is described, especially designed to study effects of UV-B radiation at remote field locations under harsh conditions, and which is therefore suited to perform long-term studies in the Arctic or Antarctic. The first results are presented from a long-term UV-B supplementation experiment at Signy Island in the Maritime Antarctic.
AB - In this review all recent field studies on the effects of UV-B radiation on bryophytes are discussed. In most of the studies fluorescent UV-B tubes are used to expose the vegetation to enhanced levels of UV-B radiation to simulate stratospheric ozone depletion. Other studies use screens to filter the UV-B part of the solar spectrum, thereby comparing ambient levels of UV-B with reduced UV-B levels, or analyse effects of natural variations in UV-B arising from stratospheric ozone depletion. Nearly all studies show that mosses are well adapted to ambient levels of UV-B radiation since UV-B hardly affects growth parameters. In contrast with outdoor studies on higher plants, soluble UV-B absorbing compounds in bryophytes are typically not induced by enhanced levels of UV-B radiation. A few studies have demonstrated that UV-B radiation can influence plant morphology, photosynthetic capacity, photosynthetic pigments or levels of DNA damage. However, there is only a limited number of outdoor studies presented in the literature. More additional, especially long-term, experiments are needed to provide better data for statistical meta-analyses. A mini UV-B supplementation system is described, especially designed to study effects of UV-B radiation at remote field locations under harsh conditions, and which is therefore suited to perform long-term studies in the Arctic or Antarctic. The first results are presented from a long-term UV-B supplementation experiment at Signy Island in the Maritime Antarctic.
KW - Antarctic
KW - Arctic
KW - bryophytes
KW - Chorisodontium aciplyllum
KW - cyclobutane Pyrimidine dimers
KW - DNA damage
KW - mosses
KW - ozone depletion
KW - Polytrichum strictum
KW - Sanionia uncinata
KW - terrestrial polar ecosystems
KW - ultraviolet-B radiation
KW - UV-B exposure systems
KW - UVBR
KW - Warnstorfia sarmentosa
KW - STRATOSPHERIC OZONE DEPLETION
KW - TIERRA-DEL-FUEGO
KW - SUB-ARCTIC HEATH
KW - SIMULATED CLIMATE-CHANGE
KW - UNCINATA HEDW. LOESKE
KW - ULTRAVIOLET-RADIATION
KW - HIGHER-PLANTS
KW - TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
KW - OXIDATIVE STRESS
KW - GLOBAL CHANGE
U2 - 10.1007/s11258-005-9023-1
DO - 10.1007/s11258-005-9023-1
M3 - Article
VL - 182
SP - 137
EP - 152
JO - Plant ecology
JF - Plant ecology
SN - 1573-5052
IS - 1
ER -