Nature - 5% Increase In UVB Exposure Cut Survival Times In Tadpoles By 25% - Proc. Royal Society

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A small increase in exposure to ultraviolet light from the sun — similar to that caused by thinning of the ozone layer that guards Earth from radiation — can have a detrimental effect on tadpoles, according to research published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B 1.

The work shows that medium-wavelength ultraviolet radiation, known as ultraviolet-B (UVB), makes tadpoles easier for predators to catch, suggesting that depletion of the ozone layer caused by humans releasing chemicals into the atmosphere could be contributing to declines in the populations of the world's amphibian species.

Amphibians around the world have been in rapid decline since the late 1970s, with nearly 2,000 of more than 6,400 species listed as threatened with extinction, says the paper. A a range of potential causes from environmental contamination to a 'chytrid fungus' (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) are thought to be responsible, and ozone depletion has also been suspected as it fits with the timing.

Previous research has shown that UVB can harm amphibians2, but in recent years the link between decreasing populations and global increases in UVB exposure owing to ozone depletion has been disputed, says Lesley Alton, a conservation physiologist at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, who led the study.

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http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110126/full/news.2011.45.html