Randler Christoph, Staller Naomi, Tryjanowski Piotr
Department of Biology, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.
Department of Zoology, Poznan University of Life Science, Poznań, Poland.
J Sleep Res. 2021 Dec;30(6):e13372. doi: 10.1111/jsr.13372. Epub 2021 May 7.
Birdwatching (birding) is a nature-based recreational activity, often including arising early in the morning. In the present study, we tested the effect of a negative social jetlag (SJL) in birders. Negative SJL implies that people have an even earlier sleep-wake rhythm on free days or weekends. As birds' activities start before or shortly after sunrise, especially during spring and early summer, birdwatchers follow this diurnal pattern. Further, birders are not homogeneous and vary greatly in recreational specialisation. The study was based on an online survey with 2,404 birdwatchers (55% male) who responded to questions about their sleep-wake times and about their birding activities. Birders show the same differences between weekdays and weekends/free days sleep like most other people. However, birdwatching days started earlier than weekdays (14 min) and lasted longer. Thus, birdwatching days are shifted towards an earlier sleep-wake rhythm in total. Birdwatchers experience a sleep curtailment during birding. Instead of sleeping ~30 min longer on weekends, they arise ~15 min earlier, summing up to a sleep reduction of about ~45 min compared to a regular weekend. The more psychologically committed birders are, the less they sleep, the earlier they arise, and the earlier is their midpoint of sleep on birdwatching days; meaning that highly specialised birders shift their sleep-wake rhythm to an earlier time compared to their regular weekend, and even their weekday sleep. Thus, birders may suffer more from the short- and long-term consequences of negative SJL. The results might stand representatively for other nature-related leisure activities.
观鸟是一项基于自然的休闲活动，通常包括早起。在本研究中，我们测试了负面社交时差（SJL）对观鸟者的影响。负面SJL意味着人们在休息日或周末有更早的睡眠-清醒节律。由于鸟类的活动在日出前或日出后不久开始，特别是在春季和初夏，观鸟者遵循这种昼夜模式。此外，观鸟者并非同质化群体，在休闲专业化程度上差异很大。该研究基于一项在线调查，共有2404名观鸟者（55%为男性）回答了关于他们的睡眠-清醒时间以及观鸟活动的问题。观鸟者在工作日和周末/休息日的睡眠差异与大多数其他人相同。然而，观鸟日开始时间比工作日早（14分钟）且持续时间更长。因此，总体而言观鸟日的睡眠-清醒节律更早。观鸟者在观鸟期间睡眠减少。他们在周末不是多睡约30分钟，而是早醒约15分钟，与正常周末相比，总共减少了约45分钟的睡眠。观鸟者在心理上投入越多，睡眠越少，起床越早，观鸟日的睡眠中点也越早；这意味着高度专业化的观鸟者与正常周末甚至工作日睡眠相比，将他们的睡眠-清醒节律提前了。因此，观鸟者可能更容易受到负面SJL的短期和长期影响。这些结果可能代表其他与自然相关的休闲活动。
