Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany.
Community and Ecosystem Ecology, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany.
Biol Lett. 2022 Mar;18(3):20220035. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0035. Epub 2022 Mar 16.
In nature, light is a key driver of animal behaviour and physiology. When studying captive or laboratory animals, researchers usually expose animals to a period of darkness, to mimic night. However, 'darkness' is often poorly quantified and its importance is generally underappreciated in animal research. Even small differences in nocturnal light conditions can influence biology. When light levels during the dark phase are not reported accurately, experiments can be impossible to replicate and compare. Furthermore, when nocturnal light levels are unrealistically dark or bright, the research is less ecologically relevant. Such issues are exacerbated by huge differences in the sensitivity of different light meters, which are not always described in study methods. We argue that nocturnal light levels need to be reported clearly and precisely, particularly in studies of animals housed indoors (e.g. '<0.03 lux' rather than '0 lux' or 'dark'), and that these light levels should reflect conditions that the animal would experience in a natural context.
在自然界中，光是动物行为和生理的关键驱动因素。当研究圈养或实验室动物时，研究人员通常会让动物经历一段时间的黑暗，以模拟夜晚。然而，“黑暗”通常很难被量化，其在动物研究中的重要性往往被低估。即使夜间光照条件的微小差异也会影响生物学。如果没有准确报告黑暗阶段的光照水平，实验可能无法复制和比较。此外，当夜间光照水平不切实际地暗或亮时，研究的生态相关性就会降低。不同光度计的灵敏度差异很大，而这些差异在研究方法中往往没有描述，这加剧了这些问题。我们认为，夜间光照水平需要清晰、准确地报告，特别是在室内饲养的动物的研究中（例如，'<0.03 lux'而不是'0 lux'或'黑暗'），并且这些光照水平应该反映动物在自然环境中会经历的条件。
