Artificial light at night (ALAN) affects the downstream movement behaviour of the critically endangered European eel, Anguilla anguilla
Artificial light at night (ALAN) affects the downstream movement behaviour of the critically endangered European eel, Anguilla anguilla
Artificial light at night (ALAN) is considered one of the most pervasive forms of environmental pollution. It is an emerging threat to freshwater biodiversity and can influence ecologically important behaviours of fish. The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is a critically endangered catadromous species that migrates downstream to the ocean to spawn in the Sargasso Sea. Given the pervasive nature of ALAN, many eel will navigate through artificially lit routes during their seaward migration, and although considered negatively phototactic, their response has yet to be quantified. We investigated the response of downstream moving European eel to simulated ALAN using a Light Emitting Diode unit in an experimental flume. We presented two routes of passage under: (1) a dark control (both channels unlit), (2) low ALAN (treatment channel lit to ca. 5 lx), or (3) high ALAN (treatment channel lit to ca. 20 lx). Eel were: (i) more likely to reject an illuminated route when exposed to high levels of ALAN; (ii) less likely to select the illuminated channel when given a choice; and (iii) passed downstream more rapidly when the illuminated route was selected. This study quantified the response of the critically endangered European eel to ALAN under an experimental setting, providing the foundations for future field based research to validate these findings, and offering insight on the ecological impacts of this major environmental pollutant and driver of global change.
Environmental stressor, Fish migration, Freshwater conservation, Light pollution, Urbanisation
1-8
Vowles, Andrew
c35c3a75-2199-4665-8340-e8ee7abc25f4
Kemp, Paul
9e33fba6-cccf-4eb5-965b-b70e72b11cd7
1 April 2021
Vowles, Andrew
c35c3a75-2199-4665-8340-e8ee7abc25f4
Kemp, Paul
9e33fba6-cccf-4eb5-965b-b70e72b11cd7
Vowles, Andrew and Kemp, Paul
(2021)
Artificial light at night (ALAN) affects the downstream movement behaviour of the critically endangered European eel, Anguilla anguilla.
Environmental Pollution, 274, , [116585].
(doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2021.116585).
Abstract
Artificial light at night (ALAN) is considered one of the most pervasive forms of environmental pollution. It is an emerging threat to freshwater biodiversity and can influence ecologically important behaviours of fish. The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is a critically endangered catadromous species that migrates downstream to the ocean to spawn in the Sargasso Sea. Given the pervasive nature of ALAN, many eel will navigate through artificially lit routes during their seaward migration, and although considered negatively phototactic, their response has yet to be quantified. We investigated the response of downstream moving European eel to simulated ALAN using a Light Emitting Diode unit in an experimental flume. We presented two routes of passage under: (1) a dark control (both channels unlit), (2) low ALAN (treatment channel lit to ca. 5 lx), or (3) high ALAN (treatment channel lit to ca. 20 lx). Eel were: (i) more likely to reject an illuminated route when exposed to high levels of ALAN; (ii) less likely to select the illuminated channel when given a choice; and (iii) passed downstream more rapidly when the illuminated route was selected. This study quantified the response of the critically endangered European eel to ALAN under an experimental setting, providing the foundations for future field based research to validate these findings, and offering insight on the ecological impacts of this major environmental pollutant and driver of global change.
Text
Vowles & Kemp, 2021. Accepted MS
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 6 January 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 23 January 2021
Published date: 1 April 2021
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
This work was funded by a Fisheries Society of the British Isles Research Grant awarded to ASV. The study was sanctioned by the University of Southampton Ethical Review Board. Thanks go to the ICER Team for assistance during the experimental period, and to Terry Smith for capture of the eels. Data published in this article are available from the University of Southampton repository at https://doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/D1724 .
Funding Information:
This work was funded by a Fisheries Society of the British Isles Research Grant awarded to ASV. The study was sanctioned by the University of Southampton Ethical Review Board. Thanks go to the ICER Team for assistance during the experimental period, and to Terry Smith for capture of the eels. Data published in this article are available from the University of Southampton repository at https://doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/D1724.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
Keywords:
Environmental stressor, Fish migration, Freshwater conservation, Light pollution, Urbanisation
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 446438
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/446438
ISSN: 0269-7491
PURE UUID: 26ff9e8e-56f9-4777-8262-8ceb769131b0
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Date deposited: 09 Feb 2021 17:33
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 06:17
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