UV-B and Biosphere

✍ Scribed by D.-P. Häder (auth.), J. Rozema, W. W. C. Gieskes, S. C. Van De Geijn, C. Nolan, H. De Boois (eds.)

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 297
• Series: Advances in vegetation science 17
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Current phase-out schedules of the production and emission of CFC's indicate that chlorine loading in the stratosphere is not yet at its maximum. The recovery of stratospheric ozone is estimated to take time and ele­ vated levels of UV-B radiation are expected to occur throughout most of the next century. Despite numerous physiological studies of UV-B effects on plants, often grown in climate chambers, knowledge of UV-B effects on organisms and processes in natural aquatic or terrestrial ecosystems is poor. Currently it appears that UV-B radiation is not just an environmental stress' factor to plants. In various ways, which are incompletely understood, UV-B affects a wide range of physiological and ecological processes. Remarkably, recent field studies indicate that enhanced UV-B does not markedly affect photosynthesis, growth and primary production, but rather interferes with plant morphogenesis and plant and ecosystem functions relating to the secondary metabolism. This special issue and book UV-B and Biosphere is an attempt to cover this range and to report the progress made in the research of ecological effects of enhanced solar UV-B radiation. The papers in this book formed the basis of an international workshop entitled' UV-B and Biosphere' , December 15-18, 1995, in Wageningen, The Netherlands. A first reaction of Hans de Boois on the number of papers and sessions scheduled from Friday to Sunday morning was: far too many.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-1
Front Matter....Pages 3-3
Penetration and effects of solar UV-B on phytoplankton and macroalgae....Pages 4-13
UV damage to plant life in a photobiologically dynamic environment: the case of marine phytoplankton....Pages 16-25
Effects of acute and chronic UV-B exposure on a green alga: a continuous culture study using a computer-controlled dynamic light regime....Pages 28-40
Role of ultraviolet-B radiation on bacterioplankton and the availability of dissolved organic matter....Pages 42-51
Physiological and structural changes in the chloroplast of the green alga Micrasterias denticulata induced by UV-B simulation....Pages 54-64
Front Matter....Pages 65-65
Uses of biological spectral weighting functions and the need of scaling for the ozone reduction problem....Pages 66-76
Outdoor supplementation systems for studies of the effects of increased UV-B radiation....Pages 78-92
In assessing biological UV-B effects, natural fluctuations of solar radiation should be taken into account....Pages 93-97
Front Matter....Pages 99-99
Beneficial effects of enhanced UV-B radiation under field conditions: improvement of needle water relations and survival capacity of Pinus pinea L. seedlings during the dry Mediterranean summer....Pages 100-108
Ultraviolet-B radiation effects on the Mediterranean ruderal Dittrichia viscosa....Pages 109-112
Effects of solar UV-B radiation on growth, flowering and yield of central and southern European bush bean cultivars ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.)....Pages 114-125
Morphological and physiological responses of bean plants to supplemental UV radiation in a Mediterranean climate....Pages 127-136
The effect of enhanced ultraviolet-B radiation on germination and seedling development of plant species occurring in a dune grassland ecosystem....Pages 138-147
Leaf thickness and UV-B absorbing pigments of plants in relation to an elevational gradient along the Blue Mountains, Jamaica....Pages 150-159
Reaction of savanna plants from Botswana on UV-B radiation....Pages 162-170
The impact of elevated UV-B (280–320 nm) radiation levels on the reproduction biology of a highland and a lowland population of Silene vulgaris....Pages 172-179
Front Matter....Pages 181-181
Effects of UV-B radiation on terrestrial plants and ecosystems: interaction with CO 2 enrichment....Pages 182-191
Effects of increasing UV-B radiation and atmospheric CO 2 on photosynthesis and growth: implications for terrestrial ecosystems....Pages 194-206
The combined effects of CO 2 concentration and enhanced UV-B radiation on faba bean. 3. Leaf optical properties, pigments, stomatal index and epidermal cell density....Pages 208-222
Effects of solar ultraviolet-B radiation, temperature and CO 2 on growth and physiology of sunflower and maize seedlings....Pages 224-234
Front Matter....Pages 181-181
Combined effects of enhanced UV-B radiation and nitrogen deficiency on the growth, composition and photosynthesis of rye ( Secale cereale )....Pages 235-240
Front Matter....Pages 241-241
Effects of enhanced UV-B radiation and elevated carbon dioxide concentrations on a sub-arctic forest heath ecosystem....Pages 242-249
The effects of UV-B radiation on European heathland species....Pages 252-264
Differential effects of elevated ultraviolet-B radiation on plant species of a dune grassland ecosystem....Pages 266-281
Stratospheric ozone reduction and ecosystem processes: enhanced UV-B radiation affects chemical quality and decomposition of leaves of the dune grassland species Calamagrostis epigeios....Pages 284-294
The role of interactions between trophic levels in determining the effects of UV-B on terrestrial ecosystems....Pages 296-308
Back Matter....Pages 309-321

✦ Subjects

Plant Ecology; Ecology; Plant Physiology; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Plant Sciences