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Author  |
Dacke, M.; Baird, E.; Byrne, M.; Scholtz, C.H.; Warrant, E.J. |

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Title |
Dung beetles use the Milky Way for orientation |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2013 |
Publication |
Current Biology : CB |
Abbreviated Journal |
Curr Biol |
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Volume |
23 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
298-300 |
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Animals; Beetles/*physiology; *Behavior, Animal; Cues; Feces; *Galaxies; Locomotion; Moon; Motor Activity; Orientation/*physiology; *Stars, Celestial; Vision, Ocular/physiology; Milky Way; insects |
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Abstract |
When the moon is absent from the night sky, stars remain as celestial visual cues. Nonetheless, only birds, seals, and humans are known to use stars for orientation. African ball-rolling dung beetles exploit the sun, the moon, and the celestial polarization pattern to move along straight paths, away from the intense competition at the dung pile. Even on clear moonless nights, many beetles still manage to orientate along straight paths. This led us to hypothesize that dung beetles exploit the starry sky for orientation, a feat that has, to our knowledge, never been demonstrated in an insect. Here, we show that dung beetles transport their dung balls along straight paths under a starlit sky but lose this ability under overcast conditions. In a planetarium, the beetles orientate equally well when rolling under a full starlit sky as when only the Milky Way is present. The use of this bidirectional celestial cue for orientation has been proposed for vertebrates, spiders, and insects, but never proven. This finding represents the first convincing demonstration for the use of the starry sky for orientation in insects and provides the first documented use of the Milky Way for orientation in the animal kingdom. |
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Department of Biology, Lund University, 223 62 Lund, Sweden. marie.dacke@biol.lu.se |
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0960-9822 |
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PMID:23352694 |
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IDA @ john @ |
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116 |
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Author  |
Davies, T.W.; Bennie, J.; Inger, R.; Gaston, K.J. |

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Title |
Artificial light alters natural regimes of night-time sky brightness |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2013 |
Publication |
Scientific Reports |
Abbreviated Journal |
Sci. Rep. |
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3 |
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Artificial light; light at nightl skyglow; measurements |
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Artificial light is globally one of the most widely distributed forms of anthropogenic pollution. However, while both the nature and ecological effects of direct artificial lighting are increasingly well documented, those of artificial sky glow have received little attention. We investigated how city lights alter natural regimes of lunar sky brightness using a novel ten month time series of measurements recorded across a gradient of increasing light pollution. In the city, artificial lights increased sky brightness to levels six times above those recorded in rural locations, nine and twenty kilometers away. Artificial lighting masked natural monthly and seasonal regimes of lunar sky brightness in the city, and increased the number and annual regime of full moon equivalent hours available to organisms during the night. The changes have potentially profound ecological consequences. |
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2045-2322 |
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IDA @ john @ |
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255 |
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Author  |
Davies, Thomas W; Bennie, Jonathan; Inger, Richard; Hempel de Ibarra, Natalie; Gaston, Kevin J |

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Title |
Artificial light pollution: are shifting spectral signatures changing the balance of species interactions? |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2013 |
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Global Change Biologyology |
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19 |
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5 |
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1417-1423 |
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animals; ecosystems; species interaction; human vision |
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Technological developments in municipal lighting are altering the spectral characteristics of artificially lit habitats. Little is yet known of the biological consequences of such changes, although a variety of animal behaviours are dependent on detecting the spectral signature of light reflected from objects. Using previously published wavelengths of peak visual pigment absorbance, we compared how four alternative street lamp technologies affect the visual abilities of 213 species of arachnid, insect, bird, reptile and mammal by producing different wavelength ranges of light to which they are visually sensitive. The proportion of the visually detectable region of the light spectrum emitted by each lamp was compared to provide an indication of how different technologies are likely to facilitate visually guided behaviours such as detecting objects in the environment. Compared to narrow spectrum lamps, broad spectrum technologies enable animals to detect objects that reflect light over more of the spectrum to which they are sensitive and, importantly, create greater disparities in this ability between major taxonomic groups. The introduction of broad spectrum street lamps could therefore alter the balance of species interactions in the artificially lit environment. |
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LoNNe @ schroer @ |
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1584 |
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De Miguel, A.; Zamorano, J. M.; Gómez Castaño, J.; Ocaña, F.; Pascual RamÃrez, S.; López Cayuela, M. A.,; et al. |
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). Contaminaci{ó}n lum{Ã}nica en Espa{ñ}a 2012: Light pollution in Spain 2012 |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2013 |
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In Highlights of Spanish Astrophysics VII |
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1 |
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956 |
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Remote Sensing |
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LoNNe @ kagoburian @ |
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926 |
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Dominoni, D.; Quetting, M.; Partecke, J. |

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Title |
Artificial light at night advances avian reproductive physiology |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2013 |
Publication |
Proceedings. Biological Sciences / The Royal Society |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc Biol Sci |
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280 |
Issue |
1756 |
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20123017 |
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Animals; *Lighting; Male; Molting; Photoperiod; Reproduction/*physiology; Singing; Songbirds/*physiology; Testis/anatomy & histology; Testosterone/blood; Trees |
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Artificial light at night is a rapidly increasing phenomenon and it is presumed to have global implications. Light at night has been associated with health problems in humans as a consequence of altered biological rhythms. Effects on wild animals have been less investigated, but light at night has often been assumed to affect seasonal cycles of urban dwellers. Using light loggers attached to free-living European blackbirds (Turdus merula), we first measured light intensity at night which forest and city birds are subjected to in the wild. Then we used these measurements to test for the effect of light at night on timing of reproductive physiology. Captive city and forest blackbirds were exposed to either dark nights or very low light intensities at night (0.3 lux). Birds exposed to light at night developed their reproductive system up to one month earlier, and also moulted earlier, than birds kept under dark nights. Furthermore, city birds responded differently than forest individuals to the light at night treatment, suggesting that urbanization can alter the physiological phenotype of songbirds. Our results emphasize the impact of human-induced lighting on the ecology of millions of animals living in cities and call for an understanding of the fitness consequences of light pollution. |
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Department of Migration and Immuno-ecology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Radolfzell 78315, Germany. ddominoni@orn.mpg.de |
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0962-8452 |
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PMID:23407836; PMCID:PMC3574380 |
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IDA @ john @ |
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50 |
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