Tropical regions currently receive the highest global levels of solar ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B, 280-320 nm) even without ozone depletion. Thus, the influence of natural, present-day UV-B irradiance in the tropics was examined for five tropical species, including three native rainforest tree species and two economically important species. Solar UV-B radiation conditions were obtained vi using either a UV-B excluding plastic film or a near-ambient UV-B transmitting film in a small clearing on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama (9 ° N). Significant differences were often exhibited as increased foliar UV-B absorbing compounds, increased leaf mass per area, and reduced leaf blade length for plants receiving solar UV-B radiation. Plant height was typically reduced under solar UV-B, but some variation among species in response was seen. Biomass and photosystem II function using chlorophyll fluorescence were generally unaffected. The results of this study provide strong evidence that tropical vegetation, including native rainforest species, responds to the present level of natural solar UV-B. This suggests that even a small increase in UV-B radiation with ozone depletion may have biological implications.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTAHS/oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:etd-7595 |
| Date | 01 May 1994 |
| Creators | Searles, Peter S. |
| Publisher | DigitalCommons@USU |
| Source Sets | Utah State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | All Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact digitalcommons@usu.edu. |
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