This quadrennial Assessment was prepared by the Environmental Effects Assessment Panel (EEAP) for the Parties to the Montreal Protocol. The Assessment reports on key findings on environment and health since the last full Assessment of 2006, paying attention to the interactions between ozone depletion and climate change. Simultaneous publication of the Assessment in the scientific literature aims to inform the scientific community how their data, modeling and interpretations are playing a role in information dissemination to the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, other policymakers and scientists.

Survey of quadrats along permanent transects in the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica, involving: quantitative analysis of relative bryophyte species distribution and abundance; area moribund versus healthy moss.

Respiration is vital; it is the essence of life. Respiration is the mechanism by which energy obtained during the photosynthesis process is transformed into biochemical energy, in the form of ATP. This transformation of energy keeps all cells in all organisms alive. While energy conversion is the main function of respiration in animals, respiration has several other functions in plants. Among them, interactions with photosynthesis such as photorespiration and the production of carbon skeletons for the many compounds synthesized in plants (e.g., pigments, proteins and secondary metabolites). Therefore, it comes as no surprise that such a key role of respiration in plants promoted intense effort to investigate its regulation. Nevertheless, the interactions with other simultaneous processes make its measurement in plants very challenging. In animals, respiration can be simply measured as CO2 or O2 exchange with the atmosphere since there are no other processes performing similar gas exchange. In contrast, in plants, respiration produces CO2 and consumes O2 simultaneously with photorespiration.

This study is the first to use an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for mapping moss beds in Antarctica. Mosses can be used as indicators for the regional effects of climate change. Mapping and monitoring their extent and health is therefore important. UAV aerial photography provides ultra-high resolution spatial data for this purpose. In addition, we collected highly accurate and GPS transects to generate a detailed DEM. We calculated a topographic wetness index based on the DEM and compared it to the UAV photography to evaluate local growing conditions. This preliminary study shows that a UAV is an ideal platform for capturing ultra-high resolution imagery.

Interactive multimedia teaching modules, web edition.

Initial steps of photosynthesis involve interception and absorption of photons by photosynthetic organs; subsequent steps are involved with utilisation or dissipation of quantum energy so derived. Interception of light varies according to size, angle, orientation and surface features of the photosynthetic organ(s) and is also influenced by changes in the arrangement of photosynthetic tissue within those organs.

Antarctica is at the edge of life on the planet. Less than 0.5% of the Antarctic continent is ice-free rock or soil and therefore only tiny pockets of land are available for plants to establish. The Australian Antarctic Territory is home to some of the rarest ecosystems on the planet and the plant life at Casey is as good as it gets - Casey has the most extensive and best developed plant communities in continental Antarctica: it is the 'Daintree' of Antarctica. The largest plants are the mosses and they are like miniature old growth forests, growing incredibly slowly. A single moss shoot may be over 100 years old. Very few plants can cope with Antarctic conditions which is why the Casey vegetation is so special.

Polar regions are experiencing rapid and severe climatic shifts with major changes in temperature, wind speed and UV-B radiation already observed in Antarctica. As climatic records only extend back 50 years, we urgently need new proxies to determine if coastal climate has changed over the past century.

Photosynthesis is a central topic in biology education. It remains one of the most challenging, largely because of a) its conceptual difficulty, leading to lack of interest and misconceptions among students; b) the difficulties students have in visualising the process, or relating it to things they can see, especially when the topic is presented purely as a molecular process; and c) limitations to the practical demonstration of photosynthesis because equipment is either cheap, unreliable and antiquated or prohibitively expensive. In response, we have combined expertise in photosynthesis research and education, and in graphic design, to produce an interactive, multimedia package, available on CD-ROM, containing two practical modules and three theoretical modules, for tertiary level students. Features include an animation of photosynthetic electron transport, suitable for a lecture presentation or for self-paced learning by students, and experimental simulations of photosynthetic gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence which can be used either as stand-alone packages or, where equipment is available, to supplement and enrich a laboratory demonstration/experiment. As well as improving learning outcomes through the documented advantages of computer-based learning, this set of modules provides students with access to the latest experimental techniques and theory, improving their understanding, updating their skills and switching them on to the amazing process that brings energy into our biosphere.

Photosynthesis is a vital component of any undergraduate biology course. Despite its central importance in providing biochemical energy, fixed carbon and oxygen for all life on Earth, it remains an area which students find uninteresting and difficult to comprehend. This difficulty is compounded by problems with laboratory equipment for practical classes, which tends to be either expensive and complex, or simple and unreliable, making it extremely difficult to provide effective, hands-on teaching of photosynthesis to the large class sizes in undergraduate biology courses. A set of interactive, multimedia modules have been combined on a CD-ROM, which provides a new approach to university teaching of photosynthesis. Features include animations of the photosynthetic electron transport process, serving both as an introduction to experimental exercises and as stand-alone material for use in undergraduate lectures or tutorials, and simulated experimental models of photosynthetic gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence which can be used either as stand-alone packages or, where equipment is available, to supplement and enrich a laboratory demonstration/experiment. These provide students with access to the latest experimental techniques and theory, providing an experience and knowledge base that facilitates understanding of the subject in greater depth.

Sharon Robinson was project initiator and curator of the Institute of Conservation Biology ICB University of Wollongong photograph competition in 2006 and subsequent calendars in 2007, 2009 and 2010.

Photographing Cool Science was a photographic exhibition featuring the best of the Institute of Conservation Biology and Law photographic competition entries and Antarctic prints by Sharon Robinson. The exhibition was shown at Project Contemporary Art Space, Wollongong from 21st March- 1st April 2007 and in the Mackinnon Building, University of Wollongong, August 2007. The items are now on permanent exhibition in the University of Wollongong Library.

Sharon Robinson was project initiator and curator of the Institute of Conservation Biology ICB University of Wollongong photograph competitions and calendars.

Photographic exhibition of Antarctic prints.

Video and Chorotube prize winner on the subject of plants from the the Antarctic.

"Fire, Water, Earth and Air - the elements of conservation", sums up the main research areas within the Institute for Conservation Biology ICB at the University of Wollongong, namely Fire Ecology, Marine Biology, Terrestrial Biology and Avian Biology. The exhibition shows a large selection of the entries from the 2006 and 2008 photocompetitions held by the ICB.

We report a meta-analysis of data from 34 field studies into the effects of UV-B radiation on Arctic and Antarctic bryophytes and angiosperms. The studies measured plant responses to decreases in UV-B radiation under screens, natural fluctuations in UV-B irradiance, or increases in UV-B radiation applied from fluorescent UV lamps. Exposure to UV-B radiation was found to increase the concentrations of UV-B absorbing compounds in leaves or thalli by 7% and 25% (expressed on a mass or area basis, respectively). UV-B exposure also reduced aboveground biomass and plant height by 15% and 10%, respectively, and increased DNA damage by 90%. No effects of UV-B exposure were found on carotenoid or chlorophyll concentrations, net photosynthesis, Fv/Fm or ΦPSII, belowground or total biomass, leaf mass, leaf area or specific leaf area (SLA). The methodology adopted influenced the concentration of UV-B absorbing compounds, with screens and natural fluctuations promoting significant changes in the concentrations of these pigments, but lamps failing to elicit a response. Greater reductions in leaf area and SLA, and greater increases in concentrations of carotenoids, were found in experiments based in Antarctica than in those in the Arctic. Bryophytes typically responded in the same way as angiosperms to UV-B exposure. Regression analyses indicated that the percentage difference in UV-B dose between treatment and control plots was positively associated with concentrations of UV-B absorbing compounds and carotenoids, and negatively so with aboveground biomass and leaf area. We conclude that, despite being dominated by bryophytes, the vegetation of polar regions responds to UV-B exposure in a similar way to higher plant-dominated vegetation at lower latitudes. In broad terms, the exposure of plants in these regions to UV-B radiation elicits the synthesis of UV-B absorbing compounds, reduces aboveground biomass and height, and increases DNA damage.

The receptacle of the sacred lotus is the main source of heat during the thermogenic stage of floral development. Following anthesis, it enlarges, greens and becomes a fully functional photosynthetic organ. We investigated development of photosynthetic traits during this unusual functional transition. There were two distinct phases of pigment accumulation in receptacles. Lutein and photoprotective xanthophyll cycle pigments accumulated first with 64% and 95% of the maximum, respectively, present prior to anthesis. Lutein epoxide comprised 32% of total carotenoids in yellow receptacles, but declined with development. By contrast, more than 85% of maximum total chlorophyll, β-carotene and Rubisco were produced after anthesis, and were associated with significant increases in maximum electron transport rates (ETR) and photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm). Leaves and mature receptacles had similar Rubisco content and ETRs (>200 μmol m-2 s-1), although total chlorophyll and total carotenoid contents of leaves were significantly higher than those of green receptacles. Receptacle δ13C prior to anthesis was similar to that of leaves; consistent with leaf photosynthesis being the source of C for these tissues. In contrast, mature receptacles had significantly lower δ13C than leaves, suggesting that 14-24% of C in mature receptacles is the result of refixation of respired CO2.

The capacity of the polar flora to adapt is of increasing concern given current and predicted environmental change in these regions. Previous genetic studies of Antarctic mosses have been of limited value due to a lack of variation in the markers or non-specificity of the methods used. We examined the power of five microsatellite loci developed for the cosmopolitan moss Ceratodon purpureus to detect genetically distinct clones and infer the distribution of clones within and among populations from the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica. Our microsatellite data suggest extraordinarily high levels of variation reported in RAPD studies were artificially elevated by the presence of contaminants. We found surprisingly little contribution of asexual reproduction to the genetic structure of the Windmill Islands populations, but more loci are required to determine the distribution of individual clones within and among populations. It is apparent that Antarctic populations of C. purpureus possess less genetic diversity than temperate populations, and thus have less capacity for adaptive change in response to environmental variation, but more markers are needed to resolve the total genetic diversity in Antarctic C. purpureus and other mosses.