Biology lettersJul 27, 2022

Artificial light at night reverses monthly foraging patterns seen under moonlight

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Mar 31, 2026

Abstract

Exposure to high intensity artificial light at night (10 and 50 lx) reversed natural foraging patterns of the gastropod mesopredator.

High intensity artificial light at night altered predator-prey interactions by changing foraging behavior.
Foraging by the gastropod mesopredator decreased during brighter natural moonlight but increased under high intensity artificial light.
Low intensity artificial light at night (0.1 and 0.5 lx) did not affect foraging patterns.
The effects of artificial light on ecosystems may vary depending on lunar light cycles.
Accurate simulations of natural moonlight patterns can enhance understanding of artificial light impacts on ecological processes.

Simplified

Mounting evidence shows that artificial light at night (ALAN) alters biological processes across levels of organization, from cells to communities. Yet, the combined impacts of ALAN and natural sources of night-time illumination remain little explored. This is in part due the lack of accurate simulations of the complex changes moonlight intensity, timing and spectra throughout a single night and lunar cycles in laboratory experiments. We custom-built a novel system to simulate natural patterns of moonlight to test how different ALAN intensities affect predator-prey relationships over the full lunar cycle. Exposure to high intensity ALAN (10 and 50 lx) reversed the natural lunar-guided foraging pattern by the gastropod mesopredatoron its prey. Foraging decreased during brighter moonlight in naturally lit conditions. When exposed to high intensity ALAN, foraging increased with brighter moonlight. Low intensity ALAN (0.1 and 0.5 lx) had no impact on foraging. Our results show that ALAN alters the foraging pattern guided by changes in moonlight brightness. ALAN impacts on ecosystems can depend on lunar light cycles. Accurate simulations of night-time light cycle will warrant more realistic insights into ALAN impacts and also facilitate advances in fundamental night-time ecology and chronobiology. Nucella lapillus Semibalanus balanoides

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Artificial light at night reverses monthly foraging patterns seen under moonlight

Abstract

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