Ozone Affects Keystone Species

On July 21st 2006, ABC News published an article entitled 'Ozone hole found to affect ocean food supply'. The economic implications of this article are far-reaching. Overfishing accompanied by phytoplankton reduction will drastically hinder economic sustainability efforts in fisheries. Here is the article:

New research in Antarctica has suggested the long-term effects of ozone depletion could have a dramatic impact on the ocean's food supply.

A group of Tasmanian scientists have measured the effects of ozone depletion on levels of phytoplankton - the major food source of lower species, like krill.

They measured a 60 per cent reduction in phytoplankton levels at low ozone concentrations, compared with the six per cent of previous studies.

Andrew Davidson, of the Australian Antarctic Division at Kingston, south of Hobart, says his team used different methodology, taking measurements over a series of days.

He says the findings have significant implications for species higher up the food chain.

"So if you remove the amount, or reduce the amount of food they've got, you're reducing the capacity for a keystone species such as krill to abound in those waters," he said.

"If we verify that this is the extent which plant material is being reduced, it's a very important finding because it's far and above what ... previous scientific research has suggested is the situation."