The inspiration for this monograph derived from the realization that human technical capacity has become so great that we can, even without malice, substantially modify and damage the gigantic and remote outer limit of our planet, the stratosphere. Above the atmosphere of our ordinary experience, the stratosphere is a tenuous layer of gas, blocked from rapid exchange with the troposphere, some twenty kilometers above the surface of the earth, seldom reached by humans, and yet a fragile shell which shields life on earth from a band of solar radiation of demonstrable injurious potential. It is immediately obvious that if stratospheric ozone were reduced and consequently the intensity of solar ultraviolet radiation reaching the earth's surface were increased, then human skin cancer, known to be related to solar ultraviolet exposure, would also be increased. But how does one even begin to estimate the impact of changed solar ultraviolet radiation on such a diverse. interacting, and complex ecosystem as the oceans? Studies which I conducted in Iceland focused on this question and were noted to the Marine Sciences Panel of the Scientific Affairs Committee of NATO by Professor Unnsteinn Stefansson, leading to a request to investigate the possibility of organizing a NATO sponsored Advanced Research Institute on this topic.

This book, first published in 2000, provides a comprehensive, multidisciplinary review of UV radiation effects in the marine environment. It is aimed at researchers and graduate students in photobiology, photochemistry and environmental science. It will also be useful as a supplementary text for courses in oceanography, climatology and ecology.

From microbial to plant ecosystems, this book examines how changes in UV radiation, caused by anthropogenic ozone depletion, as well as changes in radiation levels throughout the evolution of life on Earth, can alter species composition and interspecies competitiveness. It focuses on the evolutionary aspects of the effects of UV as well as the various synergistic interactions of UV radiation with other environmental factors. Because our knowledge of UV effects on whole ecosystems is still at a relatively early stage, an important part of each chapter is an overview of future research directions and indications of where new date and knowledge is needed.

This book offers extensive coverage of the most important aspects of UVR effects on all aquatic (not just freshwater and marine) ecosystems, encompassing UV physics, chemistry, biology and ecology. Comprehensive and up-to-date, UV Effects in Aquatic Organisms and Ecosystems aims to bridge the gap between environmental studies of UVR effects and the broader, traditional fields of ecology, oceanography and limnology. Adopting a synthetic approach, the different sections cover: the physical factors controlling UVR intensity in the atmosphere; the penetration and distribution of solar radiation in natural waters; the main photochemical process affecting natural and anthropogenic substances; and direct and indirect effects on organisms (from viruses, bacteria and algae to invertebrate and vertebrate consumers). Researchers and professionals in environmental chemistry, photochemistry, photobiology and cell and molecular biology will value this book, as will those looking at ozone depletion and global change.