Biotic Responses to UV-B Radiation in Antarctica

The significant impact of enhanced UV-B radiation on Antarctic marine
organisms has been widely recognized. So far studies on Antarctic
terrestrial organisms are few.

The aim of the project is to determine how cryptogams and
phanerogams (terrestrial algae, lichens mosses, the grass Deschampsia
antarctica) in Antarctic coastal habitats respond to Global
Environmental Change (especially UV-B radiation).

The project comprises three parts:

a. Monitoring changing environmental conditions - with
particular emphasis on ultraviolet - and photosynthetically active
radiation and temperature - in an area beneath the spring Antarctic
ozone 'hole', by establishing a measuring station able to measure
these environ-mental parameters over prolonged periods (5 years or
more);

b. Monitoring possible changes in Antarctic coastal vegetation
by selective exclusion of UV - B form the natural irradiation and
increased temperature in comparison with the vegetation under natural
circumstances over prolonged periods (> 10 years);

c. Investigate the ability of selected species to maintain
physiological performance under increased stress (UV - B, and
integrate the results of whole organism data with other investigations
on biochemistry and cellular physiology. This third part will comprise
measurements of the photosynthetic activity and biochemistry of
selected species in the field and laboratory experiments on the same
species in a controlled environment.

增强型紫外-B（UV-B）辐射对南极海洋生物的显著影响已得到广泛认可，但迄今为止针对南极陆地生物的相关研究仍较为匮乏。
本项目旨在探明南极海岸生境中的隐花植物（cryptogams）与显花植物（phanerogams，涵盖陆地藻类、地衣、苔藓以及南极发草（Deschampsia antarctica））如何响应全球环境变化（Global Environmental Change，尤其聚焦于UV-B辐射）。
本项目包含三部分研究内容：
a. 环境动态监测：通过在南极春季臭氧“空洞”覆盖区域建立长期（5年及以上）的监测站，对该区域的环境参数进行持续观测，重点监测紫外辐射、光合有效辐射以及气温变化；
b. 海岸植被动态监测：通过长期（>10年）的原位控制实验，选择性阻断自然照射中的UV-B辐射并提升环境温度，与自然环境下的植被生长状态进行对照，以观测南极海岸植被可能发生的变化；
c. 抗逆生理性能研究：探究选定物种在增强型胁迫（UV-B辐射等）下维持生理机能的能力，并将整株生物的观测数据与生物化学、细胞生理学相关研究结果进行整合。该部分研究将涵盖：对野外选定物种的光合活性与生物化学指标进行测定，以及在可控环境下对同一物种开展室内控制实验。