THE EFFECT OF UV-B RADIATION ON PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND RESPIRATION OF PHYTOPLANKTON, BENTHIC MACROALGAE AND SEAGRASSES

Several species of marine benthic algae, four species of phytoplankton and two species of seagrass have been subjected to ultraviolet B irradiation for varying lengths of time and the effects on respiration, photosynthesis and fluorescence rise kinetics studied. No effect on respiration was found. Photosynthesis was inhibited to a variable degree in all groups of plants after irradiation over periods of up to 1 h and variable fluorescence was also inhibited in a similar way. The most sensitive plants were phytoplankton and deep-water benthic algae. Intertidal benthic algae were the least sensitive to UV-B irradiation and this may be related to adaptation, through the accumulation of UV-B screening compounds, to high light/high UV-B levels. Inhibition of variable fluorescence (F(v)) of the fluorescence rise curve was a fast and sensitive indicator of UV-B damage. Two plants studied, a brown alga and a seagrass, showed very poor recovery of F(v) over a period of 32 h.