Background The timing of behavior and habitat use of nocturnal animals can be influenced by the lunar cycle in nature.The prevalence of artificial light at night(ALAN)has been recognized as a source of environmental p...Background The timing of behavior and habitat use of nocturnal animals can be influenced by the lunar cycle in nature.The prevalence of artificial light at night(ALAN)has been recognized as a source of environmental pol-lution.The interaction between ALAN and the lunar cycle on bat behavior is important for understanding anthro-pogenic effects on bats.We utilized a decade(2012–2022)of acoustic monitoring data collected in North Carolina,United States,to investigate the relationship between bat activity,lunar cycle,and light pollution.We examined whether the amount of lunar illumination affected species-specific nightly activity and whether hourly bat activity patterns varied between nights with different moon phases.We further investigated if the relationship between bat activity and the lunar cycle might be altered by light pollution.Results We found that seven bat species showed activity variation across nights in relation to the amount of moon illumination when ALAN was absent.In general,bats were less active on full moon nights compared to new moon nights.Light pollution interacted with the bat–lunar relationship in five of the seven species,masking the effect of the lunar cycle.We identified delayed bat activity patterns on nights with a full or waxing moon in seven species,and light pollution altered that pattern in four species.Overall,ALAN was associated with decreased bat activity inde-pendent of lunar cycle effects.Conclusions Our study demonstrated that at a broad spatial scale,ALAN negatively affected many North American temperate bat species and altered their lunar chronobiology.As light pollution is spreading to historically dark areas and habitats,ALAN might couple with other threats,such as the white-nose syndrome or climate change,to cause cascading damage in the environment that depends on ecosystem services such as pest control provided by bats.We argue that further research and conservation actions are needed to mitigate the impact of light pollution.展开更多
There is a void in the knowledge of the acidification status of Eastern Canada’s coastal waters.This knowledge is crucial to evaluating the threats posed to marine life,particularly oyster farming,a flagship of New B...There is a void in the knowledge of the acidification status of Eastern Canada’s coastal waters.This knowledge is crucial to evaluating the threats posed to marine life,particularly oyster farming,a flagship of New Brunswick seafood production.In this study,we measured the temporal variability of pH and related environmental parameters in three bays of Northeastern New Brunswick.We also evaluated the potential impact of the observed pH levels on the Eastern oyster(Crassostrea virginica Gmelin,1791),based on the available literature on this species’sensitivity to acidification.We investigated the presence of inherent cycles of pH with the Fourier transform and the spectral filtering technique.Our results show that pH is highly variable in the studied area,with values ranging from 7.31 to 8.90.A seasonal effect was apparent,as the pH fluctuations were set at the lowest level in winter when the cover of ice and snow on the bay was present.The spectral analysis revealed a clear semidiurnal tidal pattern of pH,this variable being inversely related to the water level in summer and directly related to it in winter.The spectral subtraction of all the tidal components allowed the detection of a circadian rhythm that was not in pace with the alternation between day and night but rather slowly drifted so that the pH troughs occurred at night during the full moon period.Short periodicities of circa 8 and 6 h also existed in two of the three bays.Based on current knowledge of C.virginica’s sensitivity to acidification,this species’recruitment,growth,and survival are unlikely to be impacted by the present pH levels in the studied area.However,further acidification might overcome the resilience of C.virgi-nica,especially that of the larvae that are produced during the winter in commercial hatcheries.展开更多
基金support of the United States Fish and Wildlife Servicethe North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission+1 种基金the University of North Carolina GreensboroSoutheastern Bat Diversity Network
文摘Background The timing of behavior and habitat use of nocturnal animals can be influenced by the lunar cycle in nature.The prevalence of artificial light at night(ALAN)has been recognized as a source of environmental pol-lution.The interaction between ALAN and the lunar cycle on bat behavior is important for understanding anthro-pogenic effects on bats.We utilized a decade(2012–2022)of acoustic monitoring data collected in North Carolina,United States,to investigate the relationship between bat activity,lunar cycle,and light pollution.We examined whether the amount of lunar illumination affected species-specific nightly activity and whether hourly bat activity patterns varied between nights with different moon phases.We further investigated if the relationship between bat activity and the lunar cycle might be altered by light pollution.Results We found that seven bat species showed activity variation across nights in relation to the amount of moon illumination when ALAN was absent.In general,bats were less active on full moon nights compared to new moon nights.Light pollution interacted with the bat–lunar relationship in five of the seven species,masking the effect of the lunar cycle.We identified delayed bat activity patterns on nights with a full or waxing moon in seven species,and light pollution altered that pattern in four species.Overall,ALAN was associated with decreased bat activity inde-pendent of lunar cycle effects.Conclusions Our study demonstrated that at a broad spatial scale,ALAN negatively affected many North American temperate bat species and altered their lunar chronobiology.As light pollution is spreading to historically dark areas and habitats,ALAN might couple with other threats,such as the white-nose syndrome or climate change,to cause cascading damage in the environment that depends on ecosystem services such as pest control provided by bats.We argue that further research and conservation actions are needed to mitigate the impact of light pollution.
基金funded by the Environmental Trust Fund of New Brunswick(projects numbers 160123,170131,180308,and 190282)by the Universitéde Moncton,campus de Shippagan.
文摘There is a void in the knowledge of the acidification status of Eastern Canada’s coastal waters.This knowledge is crucial to evaluating the threats posed to marine life,particularly oyster farming,a flagship of New Brunswick seafood production.In this study,we measured the temporal variability of pH and related environmental parameters in three bays of Northeastern New Brunswick.We also evaluated the potential impact of the observed pH levels on the Eastern oyster(Crassostrea virginica Gmelin,1791),based on the available literature on this species’sensitivity to acidification.We investigated the presence of inherent cycles of pH with the Fourier transform and the spectral filtering technique.Our results show that pH is highly variable in the studied area,with values ranging from 7.31 to 8.90.A seasonal effect was apparent,as the pH fluctuations were set at the lowest level in winter when the cover of ice and snow on the bay was present.The spectral analysis revealed a clear semidiurnal tidal pattern of pH,this variable being inversely related to the water level in summer and directly related to it in winter.The spectral subtraction of all the tidal components allowed the detection of a circadian rhythm that was not in pace with the alternation between day and night but rather slowly drifted so that the pH troughs occurred at night during the full moon period.Short periodicities of circa 8 and 6 h also existed in two of the three bays.Based on current knowledge of C.virginica’s sensitivity to acidification,this species’recruitment,growth,and survival are unlikely to be impacted by the present pH levels in the studied area.However,further acidification might overcome the resilience of C.virgi-nica,especially that of the larvae that are produced during the winter in commercial hatcheries.
