Effect of ultraviolet radiation on clearance rate of planktonic copepods with different photoprotective strategies

LASPOUMADERES, CECILIA; BASTIDAS NAVARRO, MARCELA; SOUZA, MARÍA S.; MODENUTTI, BEATRIZ; BALSEIRO, ESTEBAN

INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF HYDROBIOLOGY

WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH

Año: 2019 vol. 104 p. 34 - 44

1434-2944

 We studied two populations of Boeckella gracilipes andtwo populations of B. gibbosa that inhabit mountain lakes fromNorth-Patagonian Andes with different optical properties. We combined field andlaboratory experiments in order to determine the effects of UVR on clearancerate among these taxa that had different UVR defences. The copepod populationsdiffered in photoprotective compounds (carotenoids and mycosporine-like aminoacids, MAAs) and antioxidant enzymes (glutathione S-transferase, GST). Thesevariations were related to elevation, dissolved organic carbon content and theoptical features of the inhabited lakes. Laboratory experiments showed adecrease in the CR in all populations exposed to UVR. Consistently, thelong-term field experiment showed a negative impact of UVR on CR. We concludethat UVR exposure affects feeding, however, the magnitude of this negativeeffect depends on the exposure intensity and the photoprotective mechanismsemployed by zooplankton.