EFFECTS OF INCREASED SOLAR ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION ON BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES

• Main Authors: R.G. Zepp, T.V. Callaghan, D.J. Erickson
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2005
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://oaspub.epa.gov/eims/eimsapi.dispdetail?deid=48590

Increases in solar UV radiation could affect terrestrial and aquatic biogeochemical cycles thus altering both sources and sinks of greenhouse and chemically important trace gases (e.g., carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), carbonyl sulfide (COS)). n terrestrial ecosystems, increased UV-B could modify both the production and decomposition of plant matter with concomitant changes in the uptake and release of atmospherically important trace gases. ecomposition processes can be accelerated when UV-B photodegrades surface litter, or retarded when the dominant effect involves changes in the chemical composition of living tissues that reduce the biodegradability of buried litter. hese changes in decomposition can affect microbial production of CO2 and other trace gases and also may affect the availability of nutrients essential for plant growth. rimary production can be reduced by enhanced UV-B, but the effect is variable between species and even cultivars of some crops. ikewise, the effects of enhanced UV-B on photoproduction of CO from plant matter is species-dependent and occurs more efficiently from dead than from living matter. quatic ecosystems studies in several different locations have shown that reductions in current levels of solar UV-B result in enhanced primary production, and Antarctic experiments under the ozone hole demonstrated that primary production is inhibited by enhanced UV-B. n addition to its effects on primary production, solar UV radiation can reduce bacterioplankton growth in the upper ocean with potentially important effects on marine biogeochemical cycles. ecomposition processes can be retarded when bacterial activity is suppressed by enhanced UV-B radiation or stimulated when solar UV radiation photodegrades aquatic dissolved organic matter. hotodegradation of DOM results in loss of UV absorption and formation of dissolved inorganic carbon, CO, and organic substrates that are readily mineralized or taken up by aquatic microorganisms. he marine sulfur cycle may be affected by UV-B radiation resulting in possible changes in the sea-to-air emissions of COS and dimethylsulfide, two gases that are degraded to sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere and troposphere, respectively.