Sepp, T., Webb, E., Simpson, R. K., Giraudeau, M., McGraw, K. J., & Hutton, P. (2021). Light at night reduces digestive efficiency of developing birds: an experiment with king quail. Naturwissenschaften, 108(1), 4.
Abstract: Artificial light at night (ALAN) exposes animals to a novel environmental stimulus, one that is generally thought to be maladaptive. ALAN-related health problems have received little attention in non-model species, and we generally know little about the nutritional-physiological impacts of ALAN, especially in young animals. Here, we use a novel application of the acid steatocrit method to experimentally assess changes in digestive efficiency of growing king quail (Excalfactoria chinensis) in response to ALAN. Two weeks after hatching, quail were split into two groups (n = 20-21 per group): overnight-light-treated vs. overnight-dark-treated. When the chicks were 3 weeks old, the experimental group was exposed to weak blue light (ca. 0.3 lux) throughout the entire night for 6 consecutive weeks, until all the chicks had achieved sexual maturation. Fecal samples for assessing digestive efficiency were collected every week. We found that digestive efficiency of quail was reduced by ALAN at two time points from weeks 4 to 9 after hatching (quail reach adulthood by week 9). The negative effect of ALAN on digestion coincided with the period of fastest skeletal growth, which suggests that ALAN may reduce digestive efficiency when energetic demands of growth are at their highest. Interestingly, growth rate was not influenced by ALAN. This suggests that either the negative physiological impacts of ALAN may be concealed when food is provided ad libitum, the observed changes in digestive efficiency were too small to affect growth or condition, or that ALAN-exposed birds had reduced energy expenditure. Our results illustrate that the health impacts of ALAN on wild animals should not be restricted to traditional markers like body mass or growth rate, but instead on a wide array of integrated physiological traits.
Keywords: Animals; Avian; Development; Digestion; Excalfactoria chinensis; Light pollution; Steatocrit
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Kolláth, Z., Száz, D., Kolláth, K., & Tong, K. P. (2020). Light Pollution Monitoring and Sky Colours. J. Imaging, 6(10), 104.
Abstract: The measurement of night sky quality has become an important task in nature conservation. The primary device used for this task can be a calibrated digital camera. In addition, colour information can be derived from sky photography. In this paper, we provide a test on a concept to gather information about the possible sources of night sky brightness based on digital camera images. This method helps to understand changes in night sky quality due to natural and artificial changes in the environment. We demonstrate that a well-defined colour–colour diagram can differentiate between the different natural and artificial sources of night sky radiance. The colour information can be essential when interpreting long-term evolution of light pollution measurements.
Keywords: Skyglow; Instrumentation; light pollution; imaging radiometry; colorimetry
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Kehoe, R., Sanders, D., Cruse, D., Silk, M., Gaston, K. J., Bridle, J. R., et al. (2020). Longer photoperiods through range shifts and artificial light lead to a destabilising increase in host-parasitoid interaction strength. J Anim Ecol, in press, in press.
Abstract: Many organisms are experiencing changing daily light regimes due to latitudinal range shifts driven by climate change and increased artificial light at night (ALAN). Activity patterns are often driven by light cycles, which will have important consequences for species interactions. We tested whether longer photoperiods lead to higher parasitism rates by a day-active parasitoid on its host using a laboratory experiment in which we independently varied day length and the presence of ALAN. We then tested whether reduced nighttime temperature tempers the effect of ALAN. We found that parasitism rate increased with day length, with ALAN intensifying this effect only when the temperature was not reduced at night. The impact of ALAN was more pronounced under short day length. Increased parasitoid activity was not compensated for by reduced lifespan, indicating that increased day length leads to an increase in total parasitism effects on fitness. To test the significance of increased parasitism rate for population dynamics, we developed a host-parasitoid model. The results of the model predicted an increase in time-to-equilibrium with increased day length and, crucially, a threshold day length above which interactions are unstable, leading to local extinctions. Here we demonstrate that ALAN impact interacts with day length and temperature by changing the interaction strength between a common day-active consumer species and its host in a predictable way. Our results further suggest that range expansion or ALAN induced changes in light regimes experienced by insects and their natural enemies will result in unstable dynamics beyond key tipping points in day length.
Keywords: Ecology; Aphid; climate change; interaction; light pollution; parasitoid; photoperiod; range expansion; stability
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Weil, Z. M., Fonken, L. K., Walker, W. H. 2nd, Bumgarner, J. R., Liu, J. A., Melendez-Fernandez, O. H., et al. (2020). Dim Light at Night Exacerbates Stroke Outcome. Eur J Neurosci, in press, in press.
Abstract: Circadian rhythms are endogenous biological cycles that synchronize physiology and behavior to promote optimal function. These ~24-hour internal rhythms are set to precisely 24 hours daily by exposure to the sun. However, the prevalence of night-time lighting has the potential to dysregulate these biological functions. Hospital patients may be particularly vulnerable to the consequences of light at night because of their compromised physiological state. A mouse model of stroke (middle cerebral artery occlusion; MCAO) was used to test the hypothesis that exposure to dim light at night impairs responses to a major insult. Stroke lesion size was substantially larger among animals housed in dLAN after reperfusion than animals maintained in dark nights. Mice housed in dLAN for three days after the stroke displayed increased post-stroke anxiety-like behavior. Overall, dLAN amplified pro-inflammatory pathways in the CNS, which may have exacerbated neuronal damage. Our results suggest that exposure to LAN is detrimental to stroke recovery.
Keywords: Animals; Mcao; circadian rhythms; cytokines; light pollution; neuroinflammation; stroke
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Aulsebrook, A. E., Connelly, F., Johnsson, R. D., Jones, T. M., Mulder, R. A., Hall, M. L., et al. (2020). White and Amber Light at Night Disrupt Sleep Physiology in Birds. Curr Biol, in press.
Abstract: Artificial light at night can disrupt sleep in humans [1-4] and other animals [5-10]. A key mechanism for light to affect sleep is via non-visual photoreceptors that are most sensitive to short-wavelength (blue) light [11]. To minimize effects of artificial light on sleep, many electronic devices shift from white (blue-rich) to amber (blue-reduced) light in the evening. Switching outdoor lighting from white to amber might also benefit wildlife [12]. However, whether these two colors of light affect sleep similarly in different animals remains poorly understood. Here we show, by measuring brain activity, that both white and amber lighting disrupt sleep in birds but that the magnitude of these effects differs between species. When experimentally exposed to light at night at intensities typical of urban areas, domestic pigeons (Columba livia) and wild-caught Australian magpies (Cracticus tibicen tyrannica) slept less, favored non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep over REM sleep, slept less intensely, and had more fragmented sleep compared to when lights were switched off. In pigeons, these disruptive effects on sleep were similar for white and amber lighting. For magpies, however, amber light had less impact on sleep. Our results demonstrate that amber lighting can minimize sleep disruption in some birds but that this benefit may not be universal.
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