Early life exposure to artificial light at night affects the physiological condition: An experimental study on the ecophysiology of free-living nestling songbirds

Aug 18, 2016Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987)

Early exposure to artificial light at night affects the health of wild baby songbirds

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Abstract

Artificial light at night (ALAN) increased haptoglobin levels by an unspecified amount and decreased nitric oxide levels in free-living great tit nestlings.

Early exposure to artificial light may impact the development and health of wildlife.
Haptoglobin is an indicator of immune response and increased levels could indicate heightened stress.
Reduced nitric oxide levels may negatively affect various physiological processes, including immune function.
The effects of early light exposure on haptoglobin and nitric oxide could lead to trade-offs in energy allocation for survival and reproduction.
Further investigation is needed to understand the long-term consequences of altered physiology due to early ALAN exposure.

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Light pollution or artificial light at night (ALAN) is increasingly recognised to be an important anthropogenic environmental pressure on wildlife, affecting animal behaviour and physiology. Early life experiences are extremely important for the development, physiological status and health of organisms, and as such, early exposure to artificial light may have detrimental consequences for organism fitness. We experimentally manipulated the light environment of free-living great tit nestlings (Parus major), an important model species in evolutionary and environmental research. Haptoglobin (Hp) and nitric oxide (NOx), as important indicators of immunity, health, and physiological condition, were quantified in nestlings at baseline (13 days after hatching) and after a two night exposure to ALAN. We found that ALAN increased Hp and decreased NOx. ALAN may increase stress and oxidative stress and reduce melatonin which could subsequently lead to increased Hp and decreased NOx. Haptoglobin is part of the immune response and mounting an immune response is costly in energy and resources and, trade-offs are likely to occur with other energetically demanding tasks, such as survival or reproduction. Acute inhibition of NOx may have a cascading effect as it also affects other physiological aspects and may negatively affect immunocompetence. The consequences of the observed effects on Hp and NOx remain to be examined. Our study provides experimental field evidence that ALAN affects nestlings' physiology during development and early life exposure to ALAN could therefore have long lasting effects throughout adulthood.

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Early life exposure to artificial light at night affects the physiological condition: An experimental study on the ecophysiology of free-living nestling songbirds

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