Splitting light pollution: Wavelength effects on the activity of two sandy beach species

Jun 6, 2024Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987)

How different colors of light affect the activity of two sandy beach animals

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Circadian Biology on OpenScience ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Abstract

Exposure to artificial light at night significantly reduced the night activity of two coastal species, with specific wavelengths having differing effects.

Both the talitroid amphipod Orchestoidea tuberculata and the oniscoid isopod Tylos spinulosus showed strong natural activity at night (∼90% probability).
Activity levels declined significantly for both species when exposed to five different artificial light wavelengths: violet, blue, green, amber, and red.
Amphipods exhibited moderate activity (∼40% probability) under red lights at night, indicating some resilience to specific wavelengths.
Isopods shifted some activity to daylight hours when exposed to blue or amber lights, suggesting potential changes in their circadian rhythm.
Differences in sensitivity to artificial light at night between the two species may relate to their adaptations to natural low-light conditions.

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Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) threatens to disrupt most natural habitats and species, including those in coastal settings, where a growing number of studies have identified ALAN impacts. A careful examination of the light properties behind those impacts is important to better understand and manage the effects of this stressor. This study focused on ALAN monochromatic wavelengths and examined which types of light spectra altered the natural activity of two prominent coastal species from the Pacific southeast: the talitroid amphipod Orchestoidea tuberculata and the oniscoid isopod Tylos spinulosus. We compared the natural daylight/night activity of these organisms with the one they exhibit when exposed to five different ALAN wavelengths: lights in the violet, blue, green, amber, and red spectra. Our working hypothesis was that ALAN alters these species' activity at night, but the magnitude of such impact differs depending on light wavelengths. Measurements of activity over 24 h cycles for five consecutive days and in three separate experiments confirmed a natural circadian activity pattern in both species, with strong activity at night (∼90% of probability) and barely any activity during daylight. However, when exposed to ALAN, activity declined significantly in both species under all light wavelengths. Interestingly, amphipods exhibited moderate activity (∼40% of probability) when exposed to red lights at night, whereas isopods shifted some of their activity to daylight hours in two of the experiments when exposed to blue or amber lights, suggesting a possible alteration in this species circadian rhythm. Altogether, our results were consistent with our working hypothesis, and suggest that ALAN reduces night activity, and some wavelengths have differential effects on each species. Differences between amphipods and isopods are likely related to their distinct adaptations to natural low-light habitat conditions, and therefore distinct sensitivity to ALAN.

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Splitting light pollution: Wavelength effects on the activity of two sandy beach species

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