Artificial light at night (ALAN) disrupts behavioural patterns of reef corals
Artificial light at night (ALAN) disrupts behavioural patterns of reef corals
Increasing levels of Artificial Light At Night (ALAN) alter the natural diel cycles of organisms at global scale. ALAN constitutes a potential threat to the light-dependent functioning of symbiotic scleractinian corals, the habit-founders of warm, shallow water reefs. Here, we show that ALAN disrupts the natural diel tentacle expansion and contraction behaviour, a key mechanism for prey capture and nutrient acquisition in corals. We exposed four symbiotic scleractinian coral species to different ALAN treatments (0.4–2.5 μmol quanta m−2 s−1). Exposure to ALAN levels of 1.2 μmol quanta m−2 s−1 and above altered the normal tentacle expansion response in diurnal species (Stylophora pistillata and Duncanopsammia axifuga). The tentacle expansion pattern of nocturnal species (Montastraea cavernosa and Lobophyllia hemprichii) was less affected, which may indicate a greater capacity to tolerate ALAN exposure. The results of this work suggest that ALAN has the potential to affect nutrient acquisition mechanisms of symbiotic corals which may in turn result in changes in the coral community structure in shallow water reefs in ALAN-exposed areas.
Artificial light at night (ALAN), Coral behaviour, Diurnal corals, Light pollution, Nocturnal corals, Response threshold
Mardones, M.L.
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Lambert, J.
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Wiedenmann, Joerg
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Davies, T.W.
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Levy, O.
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D'Angelo, Cecilia
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September 2023
Mardones, M.L.
5edc0093-0856-42e3-b635-d8887bb82757
Lambert, J.
dcb3b31b-375d-4c4c-aa1e-d7ade3c79fc0
Wiedenmann, Joerg
ad445af2-680f-4927-90b3-589ac9d538f7
Davies, T.W.
96341895-4c54-4d22-a307-d4aed71c2ae5
Levy, O.
f6014ba1-5900-4df8-acec-0a19914b6a60
D'Angelo, Cecilia
0d35b03b-684d-43aa-a57a-87212ab07ee1
Mardones, M.L., Lambert, J., Wiedenmann, Joerg, Davies, T.W., Levy, O. and D'Angelo, Cecilia
(2023)
Artificial light at night (ALAN) disrupts behavioural patterns of reef corals.
Marine Pollution Bulletin, 194 (Part B), [115365].
(doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115365).
Abstract
Increasing levels of Artificial Light At Night (ALAN) alter the natural diel cycles of organisms at global scale. ALAN constitutes a potential threat to the light-dependent functioning of symbiotic scleractinian corals, the habit-founders of warm, shallow water reefs. Here, we show that ALAN disrupts the natural diel tentacle expansion and contraction behaviour, a key mechanism for prey capture and nutrient acquisition in corals. We exposed four symbiotic scleractinian coral species to different ALAN treatments (0.4–2.5 μmol quanta m−2 s−1). Exposure to ALAN levels of 1.2 μmol quanta m−2 s−1 and above altered the normal tentacle expansion response in diurnal species (Stylophora pistillata and Duncanopsammia axifuga). The tentacle expansion pattern of nocturnal species (Montastraea cavernosa and Lobophyllia hemprichii) was less affected, which may indicate a greater capacity to tolerate ALAN exposure. The results of this work suggest that ALAN has the potential to affect nutrient acquisition mechanisms of symbiotic corals which may in turn result in changes in the coral community structure in shallow water reefs in ALAN-exposed areas.
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Accepted/In Press date: 30 July 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 12 August 2023
Published date: September 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
Funding was provided by the Natural Environment Research Council NERC (NE/S003517/1 to T. Davis, J. Wiedenmann and C. D'Angelo) as part of the project “Artificial Light Impacts on Coastal Ecosystems (ALICE)”. Data were collected by J. Lambert as part of a final year dissertation project within the Marine Biology programme at the University of Southampton. We are grateful to George Clarke and Robbie Robinson for their support in maintaining the Experimental Coral Aquarium Facility at the University of Southampton.
Funding Information:
Funding was provided by the Natural Environment Research Council NERC ( NE/S003517/1 to T. Davis, J. Wiedenmann and C. D'Angelo) as part of the project “Artificial Light Impacts on Coastal Ecosystems (ALICE)”. Data were collected by J. Lambert as part of a final year dissertation project within the Marine Biology programme at the University of Southampton. We are grateful to George Clarke and Robbie Robinson for their support in maintaining the Experimental Coral Aquarium Facility at the University of Southampton.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
Keywords:
Artificial light at night (ALAN), Coral behaviour, Diurnal corals, Light pollution, Nocturnal corals, Response threshold
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 481801
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/481801
ISSN: 0025-326X
PURE UUID: a6130651-ca3b-45b0-b9a5-b642dec4994f
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Date deposited: 08 Sep 2023 16:34
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 03:06
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Contributors
Author:
M.L. Mardones
Author:
J. Lambert
Author:
T.W. Davies
Author:
O. Levy
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