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AMBIENT SOLAR UV RADIATION CAUSES MORTALITY IN LARVAE OF THREE SPECIES OF RANA
Citation:
Tietge, J E., S A. Diamond, G T. Ankley, D L. DeFoe, G W. Holcombe, K M. Jensen, S J. Degitz, G E. Elonen, AND E. Hammer. AMBIENT SOLAR UV RADIATION CAUSES MORTALITY IN LARVAE OF THREE SPECIES OF RANA. PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND PHOTOBIOLOGY 74(2):261-268, (2000).
Description:
Recent reports concerning the lethal effects of solar ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation on amphibians suggest that this stressor has the potential to impact some amphibian populations. In this study embryos and larvae of three anuran species, Rana pipiens, R. clamitans, and R. septentrionalis, were exposed to full spectrum solar radiation and solar radiation filtered to attenuate UV-B (290 - 320 nm) radiation or UV-B and UV-A (290 - 380 nm) radiation to determine the effects of each wavelength range on stage-specific survival. Ambient levels of solar radiation were found to be lethal to all three species and the lethality was ameliorated by filtration of UV-B radiation alone, demonstrating that ambient UV-B radiation is sufficient to cause mortality. Although several studies have qualitatively demonstrated the lethality of UV-B to early-life stage amphibians, this study demonstrates that the larval life stages of the three species tested are more sensitive than the embryonic stages. This suggests that previous reports, which have not included the larval life stage, may underestimate the risk posed to some anuran populations by increasing UV-B exposure. Furthermore, this study reports quantitative UV-B dosimetry data collected in conjunction with the exposures, which can be used to begin to assess the impact of environmental changes which increase UV-B exposure of these anurans.