Increased ultraviolet-B radiation, climate change and latitudinal adaptation - A frog perspective

Abstract

According to a traditional view, organisms and populations inhabiting high latitudes are likely to be exposed to lower effective doses of potentially harmful solar ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B) than those inhabiting lower latitudes. We challenge this traditional view by demonstrating that due to differences in phenology, populations occurring at high latitudes may actually be exposed to much higher effective doses of UV-B radiation than those occurring at lower latitudes. Related to this, we point out a possibly wide-spread interaction between climate change and ozone depletion which can effectively mask (or delay the appearance of) the negative effects of increased solar UV-B radiation on organismal fitness. These points are illustrated with examples from amphibians, which have been recently suggested to be particularly vulnerable for UV-B mediated fitness loss.