Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA), Coquimbo, Chile; Laboratorio de Ecología y Conducta de la Ontogenia Temprana (LECOT), Coquimbo, Chile.
Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA), Coquimbo, Chile; Laboratorio de Ecología y Conducta de la Ontogenia Temprana (LECOT), Coquimbo, Chile.
Sci Total Environ. 2019 Apr 15;661:543-552. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.157. Epub 2019 Jan 15.
Artificial Light At Night (ALAN) is an increasing global problem that, despite being widely recognized in terrestrial systems, has been studied much less in marine habitats. In this study we investigated the effect of ALAN on behavioral and physiological traits of Concholepas concholepas, an important keystone species of the south-eastern Pacific coast. We used juveniles collected in intertidal habitats that had not previously been exposed to ALAN. In the laboratory we exposed them to two treatments: darkness and white LED (Lighting Emitting Diodes) to test for the impacts of ALAN on prey-searching behavior, self-righting time and metabolism. In the field, the distribution of juveniles was observed during daylight-hours to determine whether C. concholepas preferred shaded or illuminated microhabitats. Moreover, we compared the abundance of juveniles collected during day- and night-time hours. The laboratory experiments demonstrated that juveniles of C. concholepas seek out and choose their prey more efficiently in darkened areas. White LED illuminated conditions increased righting times and metabolism. Field surveys indicated that, during daylight hours, juveniles were more abundant in shaded micro-habitats than in illuminated ones. However, during darkness hours, individuals were not seen to aggregate in any particular microhabitats. We conclude that the exposure to ALAN might disrupt important behavioral and physiological traits of small juveniles in this species which, as a mechanism to avoid visual predators, are mainly active at night. It follows that ALAN in coastal areas might modify the entire community structure of intertidal habitats by altering the behavior of this keystone species.
人工夜间光照(ALAN)是一个日益严重的全球性问题,尽管在陆地系统中得到了广泛的认识,但在海洋生境中的研究却要少得多。在这项研究中,我们调查了人工夜间光照对东南太平洋沿岸重要关键物种 concholepas concholepas 的行为和生理特征的影响。我们使用了从未暴露在人工夜间光照下的潮间带栖息地中采集的幼体。在实验室中,我们将它们暴露在两种处理中:黑暗和白色 LED(发光二极管),以测试人工夜间光照对觅食行为、自我扶正时间和代谢的影响。在野外,观察幼体在白天的分布,以确定 concholepas concholepas 是否更喜欢遮荫或照明的微生境。此外,我们比较了日间和夜间采集的幼体的丰度。实验室实验表明,concholepas concholepas 的幼体在黑暗区域中更有效地寻找和选择猎物。白色 LED 照明条件增加了扶正时间和代谢。实地调查表明,在白天,遮荫微生境中的幼体比照明微生境中的幼体更为丰富。然而,在夜间,个体并没有聚集在任何特定的微生境中。我们得出的结论是,暴露在人工夜间光照下可能会破坏该物种幼体的重要行为和生理特征,作为一种躲避视觉捕食者的机制,这些幼体主要在夜间活动。因此,沿海地区的人工夜间光照可能会通过改变这种关键物种的行为来改变潮间带栖息地的整个群落结构。