Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net 1680-7367 1680-7375 8 1 2008 10.5194/acpd-8-1291-2008 http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/8/1291/2008/ http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/8/1291/2008/acpd-8-1291-2008.html http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/8/1291/2008/acpd-8-1291-2008.pdf 1291 1320 2008-01-25 Eclipse effects on field crops and marine zooplankton: the 29 March 2006 Total Solar Eclipse G. Economou E. D. Christou A. Giannakourou E. Gerasopoulos D. Georgopoulos V. Kotoulas D. Lyra N. Tsakalis M. Tziortzou P. Vahamidis E. Papathanassiou A. Karamanos akaram@aua.gr Laboratory of Agronomy, Faculty of Plant Production, Agricultural University of Athens, 75 Iera Odos Str., 11855 Athens, Greece Institute of Oceanography, Hellenic Center for Marine Research, Greece Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, Greece NASA Goddard Space Flight Center – ESSIC/Univ. of Maryland Smithsonian Institution, SERC, USA The effects in the biosphere from the Total Solar Eclipse of 29 March 2006 were investigated in field crops and marine zooplankton. Taking into account the decisive role of light on the photoenergetic and photoregulatory plant processes, measurements of photosynthesis and stomatal behaviour were conducted on seven important field-grown cereal and leguminous crops. A drop in photosynthetic rates, by more than a factor of 5 in some cases, was observed, and the minimum values of photosynthetic rates ranged between 3.13 and 10.13 μmol CO₂ m^−2 s^−1. 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