Circadian disruption by light pollution: extent, health consequences and mitigation in songbirds
Description: Urbanisation is increasing worldwide at an unprecedented rate and the majority of people now lives in urban areas. This process dramatically alters the spatial environment, fragmenting natural habitat and leading to biodiversity loss. However, a far-less appreciated effect of urbanisation is the modification of the temporal environment. Specifically, the presence of artificial light at night disrupts the natural alternation of light and darkness that organisms use to synchronise their daily, lunar and seasonal rhythms. Such rhythms are one of the most pervasive features of life on Earth, from bacteria to humans, evolved for millions of years in a world where cycles of light and darkness have been extremely predictable. Prominent examples are the activity patterns of animals, diel rhythms of hormones and metabolism, and seasonal reproduction. Studies in humans have linked disruption of circadian rhythms by artificial light at night to negative health consequences, including diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer. However, despite the increasing interest in the ecological effects of artificial light at night, we still lack an understanding of the extent to which it might cause circadian disruption also in wild species living in urban areas, what the outcomes of such disruption will be, and what we can do about it. As with other anthropogenic stressors, it is likely that species differ greatly in their responses. Hence, in this project we will firstly use state-of-the-art biotelemetry to assess how urban life affects circadian rhythms in a carefully selected range of wild bird species that differ in sensitivity to light. We will then experimentally test the effects of artificial light at night on targeted physiological pathways related to health in birds. Last, we will examine the potential for mitigating the effects of light pollution through partial night lighting, a strategy that is largely neglected in the context of circadian disruption, but that could provide both ecological and economic benefits. By integrating these approaches, our project will enable the most comprehensive understanding of both the scale and the mechanisms of the problem of light pollution to date, and explore the basis for a novel mitigation strategy.
Amount: £1,098,000
Funding type: research
Start date: 2019-04-30
End date: 2024-04-29
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Funded outputs count: 30
Funder award ID: NE/S005773/1
OpenAlex ID: G881146650