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143 results for “Artificial light”
Artificial night light helps account for observer bias in citizen science monitoring of an expanding large mammal population
1. The integration of citizen scientists into ecological research is transforming how, where, and when data are collected, and expanding the potential scales of ecological studies. Citizen-science projects can provide numerous benefits for participants, while educating and connecting professionals with lay audiences, potentially increasing acceptance of conservation and management actions. However, for all the benefits, collection of citizen-science data is often biased towards areas that are easily accessible (e.g. developments and roadways), and thus data are usually affected by issues typical of opportunistic surveys (e.g. uneven sampling effort). These areas are usually illuminated by artificial light at night (ALAN), a dynamic sensory stimulus that alters the perceptual world for both humans and wildlife. 2. Our goal was to test whether satellite-based measures of ALAN could improve our understanding of the detection process of citizen scientist-reported sightings of a large mammal. 3. We collected observations of American black bears (Ursus americanus; n = 1,315) outside their primary range in Minnesota, USA, as part of a study to gauge population expansion. Participants from the public provided sighting locations of bears on a website. We used an occupancy modelling framework to determine how well ALAN accounted for observer metrics when compared to other commonly used metrics (e.g. housing density). 4. Citizen scientists reported 17% of bear sightings were under artificially-lit conditions and monthly ALAN estimates did the best job accounting for spatial bias in detection of all observations, based on AIC values and effect sizes (β ^ = 0.81, 0.71 – 0.90 95% CI). Bear detection increased with elevated illuminance; relative abundance was positively associated with natural cover, closer proximity to primary bear range and lower road density. Although the highest counts of bear sightings occurred in the highly illuminated suburbs of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan region, we estimated substantially higher bear abundance in another region with plentiful natural cover and low ALAN (up to 275% increased predicted relative abundance) where observations were sparse. 5. We demonstrate the importance of considering ALAN radiance when analyzing citizen scientist-collected data, and we highlight the ways that ALAN data provides a dynamic snapshot of human activity. 31-Jul-2020
Data from: Combined effect of anthropogenic noise and artificial night lighting negatively affect Western Bluebird chick development
<p>Sensory pollutants such as anthropogenic noise and night lighting now expose much of the world to evolutionarily novel sound and night lighting conditions. An emerging body of literature has reported a variety of deleterious effects caused by these stimuli, spanning behavioral, physiological, population and community-level responses. However, the combined influence of noise and light has received almost no attention despite the co-occurrence of these stimuli in many landscapes. Here we evaluated the singular and combined effects of these stimuli on Western Bluebird (<i>Sialia mexicana</i>) reproductive success using a field-based manipulation. Nests exposed to noise and light together experienced less predation than control and light-exposed nests, and noise-exposed nests experienced less predation than control nests, yet overall nest success was only higher in noise-exposed nests compared to light-exposed nests. Although exposure to light decreased nestling body condition and evidence was mixed for the singular effects of noise or light on nestling size, those nestlings exposed to noise and light together were smaller across several metrics than nestlings in control nests. Our results support previous research on the singular effects of either stimuli, including potential benefits, such as reduced nest predation with noise exposure. However, our results also suggest that noise and light together can negatively affect some aspects of reproduction more strongly than either sensory pollutant alone. This finding is especially important given that these stimuli tend to covary and are projected to increase dramatically in the next several decades.</p>
Data from: Biomass responses of widely and less-widely naturalized alien plants to artificial light at night
<p>Artificial light at night has rapidly increased during the last century, and could potentially affect many ecological processes, from individuals via communities to entire ecosystems. Recent research has shown that artificial light at night may not only affect the behavior of animals but also growth of plants and vegetation composition. However, it is not known yet whether artificial light at night may also affect other global change components such as plant invasions. </p> <p>Here, we tested how naturalized alien plants respond to artificial light at night, and particularly whether widely naturalized species differ from less-widely naturalized species in their response to artificial light at night. We grew nine taxonomically related pairs of widely naturalized and less-widely naturalized species alone and in competition, with native plants with and without artificial light at night.</p> <p>We found that in the competition treatment, artificial light at night significantly increased the total biomass production per pot, but not the biomass ratio between the naturalized alien plants and the native competitors. Interestingly, although the less-widely naturalized species produced overall significantly less biomass than the widely naturalized species, there was a trend that the less-widely naturalized species increased their biomass more strongly in response to artificial light at night than the widely naturalized species did (<i>P</i> = 0.07).<b> </b></p> <p>Synthesis. Our study shows that although widely naturalized plants produce more biomass than less-widely naturalized plants across different environmental conditions, they took less advantage of artificial light at night. This suggests that artificial light at night might lead to increased spread of currently less-widely naturalized species, at least when artificial light at night continues to increase.</p>
Artificial night-time lighting and nutrient enrichment synergistically favour the growth of alien ornamental plant species over co-occurring native plant species
<ol> <li>Insights into ecological drivers of alien plant invasions can be gained through comparative studies of growth and fecundity of invasive alien plants versus those of co-occurring non-invasive alien plants and native plants across environmental conditions in common garden settings. Habitats that harbour alien plant species in many ecosystems globally are presently experiencing light pollution resulting from artificial light at night (ALAN) and increased rates of nutrient enrichment of the soil. However, the potential interactive effects of ALAN and nutrient enrichment on invasiveness of alien plant species remain unknown.</li> <li>Here, we performed a common-garden experiment to test the interactive effects of ALAN and soil nutrient enrichment on the growth of a random set of 10 alien (five invasive and five naturalized) and seven co-occurring native ornamental plant species that are commonly cultivated within urban and peri-urban areas of Nairobi city in Kenya. We predicted that a simultaneous increase in photoperiod via ALAN and nutrient enrichment will favor growth of invasive alien plant species over that of non-invasive alien and native plant species. We grew the 17 plant species under natural daylight (ALAN-) vs natural daylight followed by ALAN (ALAN+) and fully crossed with two levels of nutrient enrichment (low vs high) and competition (competition vs no-competition against a native plant <em>Ocimum</em> <em>gratissimum</em>) treatments.</li> <li>Under simultaneous high-nutrient and no-competition treatments, ALAN enhanced mean total biomass of invasive and naturalized alien species by 61.1% and 131.4%, respectively but decreased that of native plant species by 34%. In contrast, under simultaneous high-nutrient and competition treatments, ALAN enhanced mean total biomass of invasive alien plant species by 68.6% and that of naturalized alien species by 51.9% and native species by 35.4%. High-nutrient treatment enhanced flower formation more strongly in invasive and naturalized alien plants than in native plants. The invasive and naturalized alien species grew taller than native species across the light, nutrient, and competition treatments.</li> <li> <em>Synthesis</em>: The present findings suggest that light pollution and nutrient enrichment may jointly confer growth advantage to invasive alien plant species over that of co-occurring native plant species and enhance invasiveness of alien plant species.</li> </ol>
Data from: when night becomes day: artificial light at night alters insect behavior under semi-natural conditions
<p>Light is the most important <em>Zeitgeber</em> for temporal synchronization in nature. Artificial light at night (ALAN) disrupts the natural light-dark rhythmicity and thus negatively affects animal behavior. However, to date, ALAN research has been mostly conducted under laboratory conditions in this context. Here, we used the field cricket, <em>Gryllus bimaculatus</em>, to investigate the effect of ALAN on insect behavior under semi-natural conditions, i.e., under shaded natural lighting conditions, natural temperature and soundscape. Male crickets were placed individually in outdoor enclosures and exposed to ALAN conditions ranging from <0.01 to 1500 lx intensity. The crickets' stridulation behavior was recorded for 14 consecutive days and nights and their daily activity patterns were analysed. ALAN impaired the crickets' stridulation rhythm, evoking a change in the crickets' naturally synchronized daily activity period. This was manifested by a light-intensity-dependent increase in the proportion of insects demonstrating an intrinsic circadian rhythm (free-run behavior). This also resulted in a change in the population's median activity cycle period. These ALAN-induced effects occurred despite the crickets' exposure to almost natural conditions. Our findings provide further validity to our previous studies on ALAN conducted under lab conditions and establish the deleterious impacts of ALAN on animal behavioral patterns.</p>
Data from: Crustacean photoreceptor damage and recovery: Applying a novel scanning electronic microscopy protocol in artificial light at night studies
<p>As sources of artificial light at night (ALAN) expand worldwide, research on their impacts has also increased. Most of these studies, including those in coastal habitats, have focused on behavioral and ecological responses to ALAN, overlooking impacts on the photoreceptor, the basic functional structure of animals to absorb light. Examining structural changes in the photoreceptor is essential to understand the mechanisms by which ALAN may be impacting species, particularly those adapted to different light backgrounds. This study examined the photoreceptor (rhabdom) of two sandy beach crustaceans exhibiting different light tolerances at night: the amphipod <em>Orchestoidea tuberculata</em> and the isopod <em>Tylos spinulosus</em>. We developed a novel protocol to measure these species' photoreceptor areas and quantify the damage caused by ALAN using histological sections and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Our results showed that in the isopod, a species naturally adapted to lower light intensities at night than the amphipod, the rhabdom surface was 20-times larger, and presented a tapetum, an adaptive feature found in species living in low light conditions. This confirmed that this species is potentially more sensitive to ALAN than the amphipod. Consistently, a brief period of exposure to ALAN (1 h, 20 lux) caused 3-6 times more damage in the isopod' rhabdom. In fact, ALAN caused structural damage in the isopod' but not in the amphipod' rhabdom, a damage that did not show signs of recovery from ALAN after 1 and 24 h. Thus, the damage caused by ALAN on an organism's photoreceptors is likely to be more severe and persistent in species naturally adapted to lower light levels at night. Installation of permanent ALAN sources nearby the burrowing area of these light sensitive species may have differential effects on their activity and interactions at night. ALAN may also become a new selection pressure on these species, a concern with wide implications given the ubiquity among animals of the photoreceptor structure and its response to light.</p>
Data from: The Matthew effect: common species become more common and rare ones become more rare in response to artificial light at night
<p class="MsoNormal">Artificial light at night (ALAN) has been and still is rapidly spreading, and has become an important component of global change. Although numerous studies have tested its potential biological and ecological impacts on animals, <span>very few studies have tested whether it affects alien and native plants differently. Furthermore, common plant species, and particularly common alien species, </span>are often found to benefit more from additional resources than rare native and rare alien species. Whether this is also the case with regard to increasing light due to ALAN is still unknown.<span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Here, we tested how ALAN affected the performance of common and rare alien and native plant species in Germany directly, and indirectly via flying insects. We grew five common alien, six rare alien, five common native and four rare native plant species under four combinations of two ALAN (no ALAN <em>vs</em> ALAN) and two insect-exclusion (no exclusion <em>vs</em> exclusion) treatments, and compared their biomass production.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>We found that common plant species, irrespective of their origin, produced significantly more biomass than rare species, and that this was particularly true under ALAN. Furthermore, alien species tended to show a slightly stronger positive response to ALAN than native species did (<em>p</em> = 0.079).</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Our study shows that common plant species benefited more from ALAN than rare ones. This might lead to competitive exclusion of rare species, which could have cascading impacts on other trophic levels and thus have important community-wide consequences, when ALAN becomes more widespread. In addition, the slightly more positive response of alien species indicates that ALAN might increase the risk of alien plant invasions.</span></p>
Life-history traits modulate the influence of environmental stressors on biodiversity: the case of fireflies, climate, and artificial light at night
Aim Artificial light at night (ALAN) is an unprecedented stressor recently introduced in the abiotic milieu of natural landscapes. As such, understanding how ALAN and other natural stressors act in concert to shape the spatial distribution of biodiversity is a core goal in conservation ecology. Here, we aim at understanding how ALAN and climate interact with life-history traits and courtship signalling systems to dictate the composition of firefly communities in a global biodiversity hotspot. Location An extensive elevational gradient in the Atlantic Rainforest (Brazil) currently known as the hottest hotspot of fireflies on Earth. Methods We used multivariate species distribution models to understand how species traits and courtship signalling systems interact with climate and ALAN to determine species abundances within firefly communities. We also investigated how species-specific responses to climate and ALAN scale up to determine compositional changes in firefly communities along the elevational gradient. Results We found that climate shapes communities by filtering species according to their body size and trophic position. ALAN dictates the dominant courtship signalling system within communities by affecting the abundance of species that use bioluminescence or a combination of bioluminescence and pheromones in courtship. We also found that associations between beta-diversity and ALAN were non-stationary, being higher in regions under low levels of light pollution. This suggests that even incipient increases in ALAN within protected areas can yield fast changes in the composition of firefly communities. Main Conclusions Firefly responses to climate and ALAN are modulated by traits associated with different facets of their life histories. Given the alarming changes in both stressors predicted for the foreseeable future, our findings indicate that firefly communities are vulnerable to compositional changes even within protected areas. --
Assessing the effects of artificial light at night on biodiversity across latitude – Current knowledge gaps
<p><span><b>Aim: </b>Exposure to artificial light at night (ALAN) is a risk factor for organisms. Considering the spread and increasing intensity of night brightness across the globe, and the key role of light at all biological levels, alterations of ecosystems are expected. Yet, we cannot predict the severity of the effects of ALAN in several biomes because little information is available outside the temperate zone. We reviewed current knowledge and identified traits that could be targeted to fill this knowledge gap in order to contribute to the elaboration of a biogeographical framework for the study of ALAN at the global scale.</span></p> <p><span><b>Location: </b>global.</span></p> <p><span><b>Time period: </b>current and next decades.</span></p> <p><span><b>Method: </b>We analysed the latitudinal variation of ALAN and focused on environmental factors that vary with latitude but that have been overlooked. We reviewed biological traits that exhibit latitudinal variation and depend on light and photoperiod and compiled information about the predicted changes of human demography and road networks across different world regions. </span></p> <p><span><b>Results:</b> Cloud cover amplifies ALAN far away from urbanized areas. Because of the higher frequency of overcast sky nights, exposure effects may be stronger both at high latitudes and across a large fraction of the intertropical zone, though at different times of the year. Intertropical biomes host the largest fraction of global biodiversity. Although currently they are not the most exposed to ALAN, their human populations are growing, and urbanized areas and road networks are expanding. Hence, ALAN could have strong ecological consequences, with cloud cover as an aggravating factor.</span></p> <p><span><b>Perspectives: </b>Knowledge gaps currently limit our ability to predict the effects of ALAN in different biomes. Therefore, it will be important to start investigating the consequences of this novel environmental factor across the globe, in order to develop a relevant theoretical framework.</span></p>
Relative importance of intensity and spectrum of artificial light at night in disrupting behavior of a nocturnal rodent
<p>The influence of light spectral properties on circadian rhythms is of substantial interest to laboratory-based investigation of the circadian system and to field-based understanding of the effects of artificial light at night. The tradeoffs between intensity and spectrum regarding masking behaviors are largely unknown, even for well-studied organisms. We used a custom LED illumination system to document the response of wild type house mice (Mus musculus) to 1-hr nocturnal exposure of all combinations of four intensity levels (0.01, 0.5, 5, and 50 lx) and three correlated color temperatures (CCT; 1750, 1950, and 3000 K). Higher intensities of light (50 lx) suppressed cage activity substantially, and consistently more for the higher CCT light (91% for 3000 K; 53% for 1750 K). At the lower intensities (0.01 lx), mean activity was increased, with the greatest increases for the lowest CCT (12.3% increase at 1750 K; 3% increase at 3000 K). Multiple linear regression confirmed the influence of both CCT (p&lt;0.001) and intensity (p&lt;0.001) on changes in activity (r2=0.66, F9,171=3.33; p<0.001) with the scaled effect size of intensity 3.6 times greater than CCT. Activity suppression was significantly lower for male than female mice (p&lt;0.0001). Assessment of light-evoked cFos expression in the suprachiasmatic nucleus at 50 lx showed no significant difference between high and low CCT exposure. The significant differences by spectral composition illustrate a need to account for light spectrum in circadian studies of behavior and confirm that spectral controls can mitigate some, but certainly not all, of the effects of light pollution on species in the wild.</p>
Light-driven multidirectional bending in artificial muscles dataset
<h1>General Description</h1> <p>This dataset accompanies our research on the development of programmable artificial muscles. By integrating photothermal components into shape memory polymer actuators, we have created a system that exhibits on-command multidirectional bending, controlled by illumination intensity and the chirality of the actuators. The dataset showcases the rapid response of these artificial muscles, with reaction times significantly faster than natural heliotropic systems.</p> <p>The Python code that processes shared data can be found at <a href="https://github.com/p3d2/LTCAM">https://github.com/p3d2/LTCAM</a>.</p> <h1>About Dataset</h1> <p>The folder "data" (inside data.zip) contains thermal videos and recordings of yarns for photothermal actuation measurements. Zahra Madani produced and extruded the filaments, Maija Vaara and Laura Koskelo twisted and winded the filaments, Susobhan Das, and Camilo Arias made the photoactivation recordings and Pedro Silva made the measurements. Samples names can be found in the table below and measurements were performed not sequentially. The "Materials Characterization.zip" contains DMA, DSC, FTIR, Rheology, Tensile, and TGA measurements. The following information in this readme considers the documents inside the data folder only. </p> <h3>Folders, Files & File formats</h3> <p>If the data includes images or audio, you can mention the file format eg.(.svg, .png, .mpeg)</p> <ul> <li>LTCAM:<br>- 14 npy pixel data with temperatures (mat files)<br>- 14 npy time data (time files)<br>- Supplementary images of samples and experimental setup</li> <li>Butterfly: <br>- 2 npz pixel with temperatures and time data<br>- 2 mp4 recordings of the activation of wings</li> <li>Rotating:<br>- 6 npz pixel with temperatures and time data<br>- 6 mp4 recordings of activation of samples in a rotating platform</li> </ul> <h3>Optical parameters setup for 'LTCAM' experiments</h3> <ul> <li><strong>Laser specification</strong>: Ultrafast laser with pulse width 230 fs and repetition rate 2kHz. (Spectra-Physics, TOPAS)</li> <li>Incident wavelength: 800nm (Horizontal polarization)</li> <li>Beam Diameter: 5 mm</li> <li>Average Power: tunable based on experimental need</li> <li>Beam Diameter is larger than the width of the sample. Therefore, to calculate the effective incident power, it has to be the fraction of the total power based on the area of the sample exposed.</li> <li><strong>Lens System</strong>: A part of experiment is done under the focused light condition with a lens of 100mm focal length.</li> <li><strong>Power Meter</strong>: Thorlab Power meter (Model No. S401C) is used to measure the incident power on the sample.(Wavelength range: 190nm to 20000nm). <br>- Setup photo:<br><br><br></li> </ul> <h3>Optical parameters setup for 'Butterfly' and 'Rotating' experiments</h3> <ul> <li>Laser: Cobolt 06-MLD | 808 nm | max power = 100 mW</li> <li>Setup photo:</li> </ul> <h1>LTCAM Samples details</h1> <p>Pictures of samples:</p> <p>| Name in the article | Sample No. | Mandrel Dia (mm) | Original length (cm) | Twisting (rounds) | Twists/cm | Twisting Direction | coiling direction |<br>| ---------- | ---------- | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------- | ------------- | ------------ |<br>| ZSØ1A | M733 | 1 | 50 | 260 | 5.20 | z | s |<br>| ZSØ2A | M734 | 2 | 50 | 301 | 6.02 | z | s |<br>| ZSØ1B | M781 | 1 | 50 | 258 | 5.16 | z | s |<br>| ZSØ1C | M782 | 1 | 50 | 262 | 5.24 | z | s |<br>| ZSØ2B | M783 | 2 | 48 | 270 | 5.63 | z | s |<br>| ZSØ2C | M784 | 2 | 50 | 227 | 4.54 | z | s |<br>| ZZØ2A | M785 | 2 | 50 | 339 | 6.78 | s | s |<br>| ZZØ2B | M786 | 2 | 50 | 226 | 4.52 | s | s |</p> <h3>Experiments 'LTCAM'</h3> <p>| Filename | Sample name | Laser power (mW) | Time ON (s) | Time OFF (s) | Cycles |<br>|-------------------|----------------|---------------------|---------------|---------------|--------|<br>| 230414_112622 | ZSØ2A | 50 | 60 | 30 | 1 |<br>| 230414_112851 | ZSØ2A | 100 | 60 | 30 | 1 |<br>| 230414_113149 | ZSØ2A | 150 | 60 | 30 | 1 |<br>| 230414_113420 | ZSØ2A | 200 | 60 | 30 | 1 |<br>| 230414_113656 | ZSØ2A | 250 | 60 | 30 | 1 |<br>| 230414_113955 | ZSØ2A | 300 | 60 | 30 | 1 |<br>| 230414_114838 | ZSØ1B | 300 | 30 | 30 | 3 |<br>| 230414_115518 | ZSØ1C | 300 | 30 | 30 | 3 |<br>| 230414_120115 | ZSØ2B | 300 | 30 | 30 | 3 |<br>| 230414_120714 | ZSØ2C | 300 | 30 | 30 | 3 |<br>| 230414_121714 | ZZØ2B | 300 | 30 | 30 | 3 |<br>| 230414_122255 | ZZØ2A | 300 | 30 | 30 | 3 |<br>| 230414_122808 | ZSØ2A | 300 | 30 | 30 | 3 |<br>| 230414_123244 | ZSØ1A | 300 | 30 | 30 | 3 |</p> <h3>Experiments 'Butterfly'</h3> <p>| Filename (Recording) | Filename (IR video) | Laser power (mW) | Time ON (s) | Time OFF (s) | Cycles | Obs. |<br>|---------------------------|----------------------|---------------------|---------------|---------------|--------|------------------------|<br>| 20231002_134454162 | 231002_164924 | 100 | 1 | 1 | 100 | Left wing activation |<br>| 20231002_135842563 | 231002_170312 | 100 | 1 | 1 | 100 | Right wing activation |</p> <h3>Experiments 'Rotating'</h3> <p>| Filename (Recording) | Filename (IR video) | Laser power (mW) | Time ON (s) | Rotation deg/s (measured) |<br>|---------------------------|-----------------------|---------------------|-------------|--------------------------------|<br>| 20231003_073512244 | 231003_103940 | 100 | 120 | -28.0 |<br>| 20231003_073755982 | 231003_104223 | 100 | 120 | -6.6 |<br>| 20231003_074535766 | 231003_105003 | 100 | 120 | -15.3 |<br>| 20231003_085141041 | 231003_115608 | 100 | 120 | 5.2 |<br>| 20231003_085417756 | 231003_115845 | 100 | 120 | 27.3 |<br>| 20231003_085716949 | 231003_120144 | 100 | 120 | 12.8 |</p> <p> </p>
Figure 1 in Phototrophic communities of Ahshtyrskaya Cave in the condition of artificial light
Figure 1. Lampenflora.
Figure 2 in Phototrophic communities of Ahshtyrskaya Cave in the condition of artificial light
Figure 2. One of the illuminated distant halls.
Data from: Artificial light at night increases growth and reproductive output in Anolis lizards
<p>Since the invention of electric lighting, artificial light at night (ALAN) has become a defining, and evolutionarily novel, feature of human-altered environments especially in cities. ALAN imposes negative impacts on many organisms, including disrupting endocrine function, metabolism, and reproduction. However, we do not know how generalized these impacts are across taxa that exploit urban environments. We exposed brown anole lizards, an abundant and invasive urban exploiter, to relevant levels of ALAN in the lab and assessed effects on growth and reproduction at the start of the breeding season. Male and female anoles exposed to ALAN increased growth and did not suffer increased levels of corticosterone. ALAN exposure induced earlier egg-laying, likely by mimicking a longer photoperiod, and increased reproductive output without reducing offspring quality. These increases in growth and reproduction should increase fitness. Anoles, and potentially other taxa, may be resistant to some negative effects of ALAN and able to take advantage of the novel niche space ALAN creates. ALAN and both its negative and positive impacts may play a crucial role in determining which species invade and exploit urban environments.</p>
Lifelong exposure to artificial light at night impacts stridulation and locomotion activity patterns in the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus
<p>This dataset contains data from a laboratory experiments described in the paper: "<span>Levy, K., Wegrzyn, Y., Efronny, R., Barnea, A., & Ayali, A. 2021 Lifelong exposure to artificial light at night impacts stridulation and locomotion activity patterns in the cricket <i>Gryllus bimaculatus.</i> Proc. R. Soc. B 20211626. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.1626">https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.162</a></span>". </p> <p>Artificial light at night (ALAN) is increasing worldwide,with most of the world population living under light-polluted skies. Growing awareness of the harmful effects of ALAN calls for more comprehensive understanding of these effects. <span>The stridulation and locomotion patterns of adult male crickets reared under different lifelong ALAN intensities were monitored simultaneously for five consecutive days in custom-made anechoic chambers. Activity periods and acrophases were compared between the experimental groups. </span></p> <p><span>Control crickets exhibited a robust rhythm, stridulating at night and demonstrating locomotor activity during the day. In contrast, ALAN affected both the relative level and timing of the crickets' nocturnal and diurnal activity. ALAN induced free-running patterns, manifested in significant changes in the median and variance of the activity periods, and even arrhythmic behavior. The magnitude of disruption was light intensity dependent, revealing an increase in the difference between the activity periods calculated for stridulation and locomotion in the same individual. </span></p> <p><span>Our results demonstrate that ecologically-relevant ALAN intensities affect crickets' behavioral patterns, and may lead to decoupling of locomotion and stridulation behaviors at the individual level, and to loss of synchronization at the population level. </span></p>
Color of artificial light at night affects incubation behavior in the great tit, Parus major
<p>Artificial light at night (ALAN) has been recognized as a biodiversity threat due to the drastic effects it can have on many organisms. In wild birds, artificial illumination alters many natural behaviors that are important for fitness, including chick provisioning. Although incubation is a key determinant of the early developmental environment, studies into the effects of ALAN on bird incubation behavior are lacking. We measured nest temperature in nest boxes of great tits during the incubation period in two consecutive years. Nest boxes were located in eight previously dark field sites that have been experimentally illuminated since 2012 with white, green, or red light, or were left dark. We tested if light treatment affected mean nest temperature, number of times birds leave the nest (off-bout frequency), and off-bout duration during the incubation period. Subsequently, we investigated if incubation behavior is related to fitness. We found that birds incubating in the white light during a cold, early spring had lower mean nest temperatures at the end of incubation, both during the day and during the night, compared to birds in the green light. Moreover, birds incubating in white light took fewer off-bouts, but off-bouts were on average longer. The opposite was true for birds breeding in the green light. Low incubation temperatures and few but long off-bouts can have severe consequences for developing embryos. In our study, eggs from birds that took on average few off-bouts needed more incubation days to hatch compared to eggs from birds that took many off-bouts. Nevertheless, we found no clear fitness effects of light treatment or incubation behavior on the number of hatchlings or hatchling weight. Our results add to the growing body of literature that shows that effects of ALAN can be subtle, can differ due to the spectral composition of light, and can be year-dependent. These subtle alterations of natural behaviors might not have severe fitness consequences in the short-term. However, in the long term they could add up, negatively affecting parent condition and survival as well as offspring recruitment, especially in urban environments where more environmental pollutants are present.</p>
Dim artificial light at night alters immediate early gene expression throughout the avian brain
<p>Artificial light at night (ALAN) is a pervasive pollutant that alters physiology and behavior. However, the underlying mechanisms triggering these alterations are unknown, as previous work shows that dim levels of ALAN may have a masking effect, bypassing the central clock. Light stimulates neuronal activity in numerous brain regions which could in turn activate downstream effectors regulating physiological response. In the present study, taking advantage of immediate early gene (IEG) expression as a proxy for neuronal activity, we determined the brain regions activated in response to ALAN. We exposed zebra finches to dim ALAN (1.5 lux) and analyzed 24 regions throughout the brain. We found that the overall expression of two different IEGs, cFos and ZENK, in birds exposed to ALAN were significantly different from birds inactive at night. Additionally, we found that ALAN-exposed birds had significantly different IEG expression from birds inactive at night and active during the day in several brain areas associated with vision, movement, learning and memory, pain processing, and hormone regulation. These results give insight into the mechanistic pathways responding to ALAN that underlie downstream, well-documented behavioral and physiological changes.</p>
Artificial light at night (ALAN) decreases plant diversity and performance in experimental grassland communities – Data on species biomass and traits
<p>Artificial light at night (ALAN) affects many areas of the world and is increasing globally. To date, there has been limited and inconsistent evidence regarding the consequences of ALAN on plant communities as well as the fitness of their constituent species. ALAN could be beneficial for plants as they need light as an energy source, but they also need darkness for regeneration and growth. We created model communities composed of 16 plant species sown, exposed to a gradient of ALAN ranging from 'moonlight only' to conditions like situations typically found directly underneath a streetlamp. We measured plant community composition and its production (biomass), as well as functional traits of three plant species from different functional groups (grasses, herbs, legumes) in two separate harvests. We found that biomass was reduced by 33% in the highest ALAN treatment compared to the control, Shannon diversity decreased by 43% and Evenness by 34% in the first harvest. Some species failed to establish in the second harvest. Specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content and leaf hairiness responded to ALAN. These responses suggest that plant communities will be sensitive to increasing ALAN, and they flag a need for plant conservation activities that consider impending ALAN scenarios.</p>
Data from: Biomass responses of widely and less-widely naturalized alien plants to artificial light at night
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Under cover of darkness: Refuge from artificial light at night may mitigate risks to stranded seabirds
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.