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The effects of UVR irradiance and spectral composition on yellow perch (Perca flavescens) larvae survival

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine experimentally the effects of the quality (UV-A/UV-B ratio) and quantity (irradiance) of natural ultraviolet radiation (UVR) on the survival of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) larvae and on the oxidative stress in their cytoplasm, estimated by the activity of the superoxide dismutase (SOD). We also estimated the potential accumulation of photodamage in DNA by using UV dosimeters. Freshly-hatched yellow perch and UV dosimeters were incubated in controlled conditions under a factorial combination of selective and non-selective filters offering different levels of UVR protection and exposed to natural solar light. Larval survival was inversely related to the UVR intensity gradient, and responded similarly to the presence of both UV-A and UV-B or UV-A only. In contrast, the responses of SOD activity and UV dosimeter were stronger in the presence of both UV-A and UV-B than UV-A only, leading to a partial mismatch with the results on survival. Our results, obtained under natural solar light, suggest that incident UV-A radiation, despite its lower energy per unit photon than UV-B, could be a serious threat for yellow perch larvae. They also show that UV dosimeters and SOD activity predict only some components of UVR risk for yellow perch larvae. The partial mismatch between UV dosimeters results and larval survival cautions against the use of UV dosimeters alone as a proxy for UVR risk in the field.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Julie Carange for her outstanding help with the SOD analyses, Jean-Jacques Frenette for giving access to the spectrophotometer and the radiometer and Jean-François Lapierre for his help with these instruments. We also thank Bianca Valletta, Philippe Dufresne, Chantal Fournier, Yves Paradis, Oumarou Sidibe, and Charlene Lavallée for their field assistance, and Angelique Dupuch for her advice with statistical analyses. This study was supported by grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada and the Canada Research Chair Program to P. Magnan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Centre for Watershed-Aquatic Ecosystem Interactions, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, C.P. 500, Trois-Rivières, QC, G9A 5H7, Canada

    Véronique Boily, Andrea Bertolo & Pierre Magnan

  2. Laboratoire de Recherche en Neurobiologie Cellulaire, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, C.P. 500, Trois-Rivières, QC, G9A 5H7, Canada

    Maria-Grazia Martinoli

  3. Département de Chimie-Biologie, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, C.P. 500, Trois-Rivières, QC, G9A 5H7, Canada

    Hélène-Marie Thérien

Authors
  1. Véronique Boily
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  2. Andrea Bertolo
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  3. Pierre Magnan
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  4. Maria-Grazia Martinoli
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  5. Hélène-Marie Thérien
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Correspondence to Andrea Bertolo.

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Boily, V., Bertolo, A., Magnan, P. et al. The effects of UVR irradiance and spectral composition on yellow perch (Perca flavescens) larvae survival. Aquat Sci 73, 345–354 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-011-0182-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-011-0182-y

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