Most plant studies involving response to increased UV radiation have been conducted in greenhouses or other controlled areas. Still others may experience increased growth with increased UV exposure. There may be a change in plant metabolism In a competing ecosystem, any changes in a plant species may alter its viability in the system, sometimes strengthening its position and other cases weakening it. The distribution of plant species in an ecosystem could therefore be affected by changes in UV radiation load. Most experiments have been conducted on agricultural plants.
Trees seem to experience the most effect, probably because of longer lifetimes.
UV radiation can penetrate to depths of tens of meters in clear lake or ocean water. Rates of phytoplankton production in waters that bound the Antarctic continent directly under the ozone hole have beeen found to be depressed relative to other similar areas. All in all, the formation of durable hypotheses about the impacts of stratospheric ozone reduction on biological systems is quite a bit behind the formation of hypotheses concerning the chemistry, physics, and meteorology of it all.