Abstract

We performed in situ experiments during the summer of 1995 and 1996 to assess the potential effect of solar ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation (290-320 nm) on the survival of Cyclops abyssorum tatricus Kozminski and Boeckella gracilipes Daday. These species are numerically dominant within the crustacean zooplankton living in two high-mountain lakes, one located in the Austrian Alps [Gossenkollesee (GKS), 2417 m above sea level, maximum depth 9.9 m] and another in the Chilean Andes (Laguna Negra, 2700 m above sea level, maximum depth 320 m). The copepods were incubated in quartz tubes (11) or in quartz tubes wrapped with Mylar D® to exclude most of the UVB radiation. The organisms were exposed at 0.5 m depth for 10-72 h on cloudless days. Both lakes were very transparent to UVB and 10% of the surface radiation at the nominal wavelength of 305 nm was still present at 9.6 m in GKS and at 12.8 m in Laguna Negra. These species migrate vertically and have a maximum daytime distribution close to the bottom (C. abyssorum tatricus) or below 15 m depth (B. gracilipes). Both species were red, but the carotenoid concentration was higher in C. abyssorum tatricus than in B. gracilipes (6.5 and 2.3 ?g mg-1 dry weight, respectively). UV-absorbing compounds with a maximum absorption at -334 nm were also detected. Cyclops abyssorum tatricus was highly resistant to UVB radiation and no significant lethal effect was observed. Boeckella gracilipes had a mortality -5 times higher in the treatment receiving full sunlight than in the Mylar treatment (3.2%) only when exposed for 70 h. The resistance of B. gracilipes was higher than that reported in the literature for the same species, suggesting the existence of intraspecific differences in UV sensitivity.