German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich-Schiller-University, 07743 Jena, Germany.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2023 Dec 18;378(1892):20220359. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0359. Epub 2023 Oct 30.
Artificial light at night (ALAN) is predicted to have far-reaching consequences for natural ecosystems given its influence on organismal physiology and behaviour, species interactions and community composition. Movement and predation are fundamental ecological processes that are of critical importance to ecosystem functioning. The natural movements and foraging behaviours of nocturnal invertebrates may be particularly sensitive to the presence of ALAN. However, we still lack evidence of how these processes respond to ALAN within a community context. We assembled insect communities to quantify their movement activity and predation rates during simulated Moon cycles across a gradient of diffuse night-time illuminance including the full range of observed skyglow intensities. Using radio frequency identification, we tracked the movements of insects within a fragmented grassland Ecotron experiment. We additionally quantified predation rates using prey dummies. Our results reveal that even low-intensity skyglow causes a temporal shift in movement activity from day to night, and a spatial shift towards open habitats at night. Changes in movement activity are associated with indirect shifts in predation rates. Spatio-temporal shifts in movement and predation have important implications for ecological networks and ecosystem functioning, highlighting the disruptive potential of ALAN for global biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services. This article is part of the theme issue 'Light pollution in complex ecological systems'.
人造夜间光(ALAN)因其对生物机体生理学和行为、物种相互作用和群落组成的影响,预计将对自然生态系统产生深远影响。运动和捕食是对生态系统功能至关重要的基本生态过程。夜间无脊椎动物的自然运动和觅食行为可能特别容易受到 ALAN 的影响。然而,我们仍然缺乏这些过程在群落环境中对 ALAN 响应的证据。我们组装了昆虫群落,以量化它们在模拟月相周期中的运动活性和捕食率,该模拟周期跨越了包括观察到的天光强度的全范围的漫射夜间光照度梯度。我们使用射频识别(RFID)在碎片化的草地生态系统中跟踪昆虫的运动。我们还使用猎物模拟物量化了捕食率。我们的研究结果表明,即使是低强度的天光也会导致运动活性从白天到夜间的时间转移,以及夜间向开阔栖息地的空间转移。运动活性的变化与间接的捕食率变化有关。运动和捕食的时空转移对生态网络和生态系统功能有重要影响,突出了 ALAN 对全球生物多样性和生态系统服务提供的潜在破坏性。本文是主题为“复杂生态系统中的光污染”特刊的一部分。