|
|
Bailey, L. A., Brigham, R. M., Bohn, S. J., Boyles, J. G., & Smit, B. (2019). An experimental test of the allotonic frequency hypothesis to isolate the effects of light pollution on bat prey selection. Oecologia, 190(2), 367–374.
Abstract: Artificial lights may be altering interactions between bats and moth prey. According to the allotonic frequency hypothesis (AFH), eared moths are generally unavailable as prey for syntonic bats (i.e., bats that use echolocation frequencies between 20 and 50 kHz within the hearing range of eared moths) due to the moths' ability to detect syntonic bat echolocation. Syntonic bats therefore feed mainly on beetles, flies, true bugs, and non-eared moths. The AFH is expected to be violated around lights where eared moths are susceptible to exploitation by syntonic bats because moths' evasive strategies become less effective. The hypothesis has been tested to date almost exclusively in areas with permanent lighting, where the effects of lights on bat diets are confounded with other aspects of human habitat alteration. We undertook diet analysis in areas with short-term, localized artificial lighting to isolate the effects of artificial lighting and determine if syntonic and allotonic bats (i.e., bats that use echolocation frequencies outside the hearing range of eared moths) consumed more moths under conditions of artificial lights than in natural darkness. We found that syntonic bats increased their consumption of moth prey under experimentally lit conditions, likely owing to a reduction in the ability of eared moths to evade the bats. Eared moths may increase in diets of generalist syntonic bats foraging around artificial light sources, as opposed to allotonic species and syntonic species with a more specialized diet.
|
|
|
|
Bennett, V. J., & Hale, A. M. (2014). Red aviation lights on wind turbines do not increase bat-turbine collisions. Animal Conservation, 17(4), 354–358.
Abstract: Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain why bat–wind turbine collisions occur; however, most of these hypotheses have yet to be tested and with high numbers of bat fatalities reported annually at wind resource facilities globally, there is a real need to understand this phenomenon. In this study, we tested whether aviation lighting influenced the number of bat fatalities at wind turbines. Thus, at a utility-scale wind facility in north-central Texas, we explored whether bat fatalities were higher at wind turbines with red flashing aviation lighting compared with turbines without such lighting. Over a 5-year period, we recorded fatalities at wind turbines as part of a long-term fatality monitoring programme. During standardized searches, we collected 916 bat carcasses representing all six species known to be present at the site. We found that bat fatalities were higher at wind turbines without aviation lighting compared with those with; a pattern that was driven by one species, Lasiurus borealis, and there was no significant difference between fatalities at wind turbines with or without aviation lighting for any other species. Our study demonstrates that wind turbines should continue to be fitted with synchronized, flashing red aviation lights, as this form of lighting does not appear to be one of the potential causes of bat fatalities at wind resource facilities. We therefore support further research that explores possible alternative causes of bat–wind turbine interactions. More specifically, we reiterate that there is still a pressing need to determine the aspects of bat ecology that result in individuals coming into contact with wind turbines.
|
|
|
|
Bukalev, A. V., Vinogradova, I. A., Zabezhinskii, M. A., Semenchenko, A. V., & Anisimov, V. N. (2013). Light pollution increases morbidity and mortality rate from different causes in female rats. Adv Gerontol, 3(3), 180–188.
Abstract: The influence of different light regimes (constant light, LL; constant darkness, DD; standard light regime, LD, 12 hours light/12 hours darkness; and natural lighting of the northwest of Russia (NL) on non-tumor pathology revealed in the post-mortem examination of female rats has been studied. It was found that keeping 25-days-old animals under LL and NL conditions led to an increase in the number of infectious diseases and the substantially faster development of spontaneous tumors (2.9 and 3.3 diseases per one rat, respectively), variety of nontumor pathology found in dead rats, compared with the animals in standard (standard light) regime (1.72 diseases per one rat). Light deprivation (DD) led to a substantial reduction in the development of new growth, as well as nontumor and infectious diseases (1.06 diseases per one rat), compared to the same parameters in a standard light regime.
|
|
|
|
Downs, N. C., Beaton, V., Guest, J., Polanski, J., Robinson, S. L., & Racey, P. A. (2003). The effects of illuminating the roost entrance on the emergence behaviour of Pipistrellus pygmaeus. Biological Conservation, 111(2), 247.252.
Abstract: In an attempt to increase the accuracy of roost emergence counts for a monitoring programme, the exits of two Pipistrellus pygmaeus roosts were illuminated with light of different colours and intensities. Light intensity affected bat emergence more than light colour. At one roost there was no significant difference in the bat emergence pattern between when the roost exit received no illumination and when it was illuminated with red light. The use of the latter is proposed to increase the accuracy of bat roost emergence counts.
|
|
|
|
Erren, T. C., Pape, H. G., Reiter, R. J., & Piekarski, C. (2008). Chronodisruption and cancer. Naturwissenschaften, 95(5), 367–382.
Abstract: Research into health effects of chronodisruption (CD), a relevant disturbance of the circadian organization of physiology, endocrinology, metabolism and behaviour, is evolving at a rapid pace. With regard to malignancies, our synthesis of key experiments indicates that CD can play a causal role for cancer growth and tumor progression in animals. Moreover, our meta-analyses of 30 epidemiological studies evince that flight personnel and shift workers exposed to chronodisruption may have increased breast and prostate cancer risks: summary relative risks (RRs) for investigations of flight personnel and of shift workers suggested a 70 and 40% increase in the risk of breast cancer, respectively, and excess relative risks of prostate cancer in nine studies in flight personnel (40%) and in two studies in male shift workers. There was a remarkable indication of homogeneity of results from the individual studies that contribute to the average statistics. However, in view of doubts about whether the differing assessments of CD can really be regarded as valid reflections of the same causative phenomenon and the lack of control of covariates in the majority of studies, it is premature to conclude that the risk observations reflect a real, rather than spurious, association with CD. The challenge for future epidemiological investigations of the biologically plausible links between chronodisruption and human cancers is to conduct studies which appreciate details of transmeridian travelling, of shift work and of covariates for the development of the diseases.
|
|
