(1) Higher levels of ultraviolet radiation penetrating the Earth’s dwindling ozone layer may be driving some species of frogs to extinction, according to researchers from Oregon. Scientists have long been puzzled over why some species of amphibians are on the decline while others stay healthy. The new research shows that UV-B radiation – one of the most damaging forms of ultraviolet radiation – kills the eggs of some species but leaves others unharmed.
(2) “The bottom line is that natural levels of UV-B in the field are killing the eggs of some amphibians,” says Andrew Blaustein of Oregon State University. ‘If you block the UV-B out, you see that they don’t die.”
(3) Although UV radiation has been shown to kill amphibian eggs in the laboratory, the work by Blaustein and John Hays appears to be the first to show that damage can be done by sunlight. This finding supports the idea that increased levels of UV radiation passing through the thinning ozone layer could be killing more eggs than in the past, possibly wiping out susceptible species.
(4) Several species of amphibians around the world have gone extinct or are disappearing. Although many disappearances probably result from pollution or habitat destruction, others have taken place in seemingly pristine areas. This is the case in Oregon, where some species, such as the western toad, are disappearing despite the lack of any obvious environmental damage.
(5) Blaustein and Hays already knew that UV radiation damages DNA, and that an enzyme called photolyase can repair this damage. They measured levels of the enzyme in the eggs of 10 species, and found that disappearing species have much lower levels of photolyase than healthy ones.
(6) For three species native to Oregon, they also tested susceptibility to UV radiation directly, by placing three clumps of eggs from each species in water where they would naturally be laid. One clump was covered with a UV filter, the second with a control screen and the third left in the sun. The western toad and another disappearing species, the Cascades frog, laid eggs that were susceptible to sunlight. More of their eggs survived when UV radiation was blocked out. In contrast, eggs of the Pacific tree frog, which is not threatened, were not damaged by sunlight.