Effect of ultraviolet-B radiation on salt marsh vegetation: trends of the genus salicornia along the Americas

Abstract

The effects of natural UV-B radiation on growth, photosynthetic and photoprotective pigment composition of different Salicornia species were analyzed in salt marshes at three different sites along the Americas (Puerto Rico, southern Brazil and Patagonia, Argentina). Plants were exposed to different levels of UV-B radiation for 1–2 years in situ as well as in outdoor garden UV-B exclusion experiments. Different UV-B levels were obtained by covering plants with UV-B opaque (blocked 93–100% of ambient UV-B) and UV-B attenuating (near-ambient) filters (reduced 20–25% of UV-B). Unfiltered plants were exposed to natural irradiance. UV-B filters had significant effects on temperature and photosynthetic pigments (due to changes in PAR; 400–700 nm). The growth of Salicornia species was inhibited after 35 to 88 days of exposure to mean UV-B radiation dosages between 3.6 and 4.1 kJ m22 day21. The highest number of branches on the main shoot (S. bigelovii and S. gaudichaudiana) and longest total length of the branches (S. gaudichaudiana) were observed in the UV-B opaque treatment. Salicornia species responded to increasing levels of UV-B radiation by increasing the amount of UV-B absorbing pigments up to 330%. Chromatographic analyses of seedlings and adult S. bigelovii plants found seven different UV-B absorbing flavonoids that are likely to serve as UV-B filtering pigments. No evidence of differential sensitivity or resilience to UV-B radiation was found between Salicornia species from low-mid latitudes and a previously published study of a high-latitude population.