Preface to Section III — The Biosphere

Abstract

Sections I and II are directed toward methods which establish the amount of solar UV reaching organisms in natural waters; in this section we turn to the responses which the solar UV will induce in the aquatic biota. Obviously, if inquiries are made very specifically, then the biological responses will be as diverse and complex as the organisms which inhabit the seas. The variety of living organisms is so great that biologists have no choice but to generalize, to presume that the basic processes one observes in one or a few species are occurring in a more or less similar fashion in most or all living organisms. One should be very conscious that our biological information is gleaned from the sources presently available; the species most extensively studied are not organisms commonly found in the seas. On the other hand, it must be admitted that generalizing has for the most part worked well in biology; many mechanisms and processes are remarkably ubiquitous among living organisms.